Police shot and killed a disturbed man on the Brooklyn Bridge early Friday when he lunged at an officer with a knife, ending an hour-long standoff in which he claimed he had a bomb and wanted to die.

The knife-wielding man was spotted walking on the bridge cables around 3:30 a.m., and officers scaled the bridge to try to convince him to come down to safety, according to NYPD’s Emergency Response Unit (ESU) Chief Gerard V. Dowling.

“He stated, ‘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,’” Dowling told reporters.

The NYPD closed the walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge on Friday, September 4, 2026, after a suicidal man approached officers with a knife. William Farrington

An NYPD image shows a utility knife allegedly carried by a man on the Brooklyn Bridge. Police shot and killed the man as he approached them with the knife. NYPD

He ignored multiple commands to come down and drop the weapon as police continued to speak with him for about an hour, Dowling said.

Then, hundreds of feet above the East River, the man quickly descended the cable toward the line of ESU officers, who were strapped single-file into harnesses clipped to the bridge. 

When the man got within three feet of the closest cop, he lunged with the knife.

“At that point, a member of ESU who was on the roadbed of the bridge discharged his weapon one time, striking the man,” Dowling said.

Officers brought the man down and rushed him to Bellevue Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Police recovered a knife and flashlight at the scene.

“Members of ESU are specially trained for these types of high-risk and incredibly dangerous situations,” Dowling said.

NYPD detectives gather on the Brooklyn Bridge on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, where a knife-wielding man was fatally shot by police after responding to assist. William Farrington

The dramatic standoff snarled the morning commute.

All Brooklyn-bound lanes were closed beginning around 4:15 a.m. and remained closed until about 8:30 a.m., according to officials.