A man with a significant mental health history armed with a realistic-looking BB gun was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer outside a popular Staten Island diner on Friday night, according to sources and the NYPD.
Bullets flew just after 8 p.m. at the well-known Andrew’s Diner on Hylan Boulevard in Eltingville, according to the NYPD.
Diners alerted cops that a man with a gun was menacing the eatery, according to sources.
The gun-wielding man — whom sources identified as Jesse Campbell, 44 — then had a confrontation with two off-duty NYPD officers behind the diner, during which he pointed the supposed weapon at them, according to sources.
Police have not yet confirmed the man’s name.
During the confrontation, one of the off-duty officers, a female detective with the Internal Affairs Bureau, fired multiple rounds at the suspect, striking him throughout the body, according to the NYPD and sources.
Police have a video that showed off-duty officers directing Campbell multiple times to drop the gun before the fatal shooting, according to sources.
Campbell was taken to Staten Island University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, sources said.
Campbell had “significant” mental health issues, sources said, adding that he had allegedly told his mother and sister earlier in the day that he intended to be killed by police.
“It looks like suicide by cop,” a police source said.
A hyper-realistic BB gun was recovered at the scene, according to sources and the NYPD.
Photos shared by the NYPD on social media show a black gun with a piece of tape around its grip.
Photos from the scene show detectives analyzing a pool of blood in the road near an abandoned black baseball cap.
“The men and women of the NYPD are never truly off the job,” Assistant Chief Melissa Eger said at a press conference on Staten Island late Friday night. “Tonight we saw that firsthand.
“Two off-duty officers bravely ran towards danger and took immediate action.”
Eger stressed that the officers attempted to “de-escalate” the “dangerous and unpredictable situation.”
The suspect also has a criminal history in the state of New York, the NYPD said.
“We are aware of the incident that took place on William Avenue in Great Kills earlier this evening,” Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said in a statement Friday night.
“It appears that an off-duty member of the NYPD heroically stepped up to keep the public safe, and we are thankful.”
The NYPD advised in a post on X that traffic delays in the vicinity, as well as increased presence of emergency vehicles, should be expected.
Additional reporting by Juan Gonzalez
Read the full article here
