NYPD Releases Footage of Fatal Brooklyn Bridge Standoff

Newly released New York Police Department footage shows officers fatally shooting 41-year-old Chaun Bottom after he lunged toward them with a knife atop the Brooklyn Bridge last month. The incident began around 3:30 a.m. on September 4, when Bottom was spotted walking along the bridge’s cables.

Bodycam and drone footage released Friday show NYPD Emergency Services Unit Detective Nicholas Giordani attempting to de-escalate the situation for nearly an hour. Giordani pleaded with Bottom to come down from the cables and drop his weapon, asking what brought him to the bridge and expressing concern for his well-being.

"What’s going on, man? What brought you up here," Giordani is heard saying in the footage. "What’s going on in your day that you think this is the only option you have?"

Throughout the standoff, Giordani urged Bottom to move back toward the center of the bridge, emphasizing that he cared about him and that life still held possibilities. "There is stuff left, you have your whole life ahead of you," the detective stated. "Don’t say there’s nothing left, yes there is, I promise you there is plenty ahead of you."

Toward the end of the encounter, Bottom’s knife became visible. Cops repeatedly told him to "drop the knife." In the released footage, Bottom is seen raising his weapon and lunging at an officer. Sergeant Dennis Dooley, positioned on the bridge's roadbed, then discharged his firearm, striking Bottom.

Following the shooting, officers quickly moved to reach Bottom and attempted to get him to drop his weapon. He was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. NYPD ESU Chief Gerard V. Dowling had previously stated that Bottom told officers, “I want to die, I want you to kill me, I have a bomb, you’re going to make me do something bad to the cops.”

The NYPD's Force Investigation Division is continuing its investigation into the fatal shooting.