Police shot a knife-wielding man after he threatened officers who were trying to stop him from jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, the NYPD said.
The incident happened around 3:30 a.m. Friday, when police were notified of a man walking on the bridge’s beams.
Police shot a knife-wielding man on the Brooklyn Bridge on Sept. 4, 2026, the NYPD said.
Thomas Dix
Members of the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit strapped into harnesses and safety gear to climb the cables.
“The officers on the bridge engaged in verbal dialogue with the male for almost an hour, explaining they were there to help and try and convince him to come safely down from the bridge,” ESU Commanding Officer Gerry Dowling said.
Officers said the man was holding a knife, telling them he wanted to die and he wanted them to kill him. The man also told police he had a bomb, according to NYPD officials.
After giving multiple verbal commands to drop the knife, police said the man started to quickly descend the cables toward the officers, who police say could not retreat quickly because they were still clipped to the bridge.
“When the male got within approximately three feet from the closest member of ESU, he raised his arm with the knife extended outward towards the officer,” Dowling said.
That’s when an officer on the ground fired his gun, hitting the man, police say.
Police said the man refused officers’ commands to drop the knife.
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The crew then brought the man down from the bridge. He was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The knife was found at the scene, and the incident was captured on body camera footage, according to police. No bomb was found. Police also recovered a flashlight.
The incident is being investigated, which is standard for all officer-involved shootings.
Traffic was backed up all morning due to the incident. Video from Chopper 2 showed one lane closed for more than four hours. The bridge has since reopened.
The deadly shooting comes at the end of a week that began with the NYPD shooting and killing a woman in Times Square who they say stabbed two people, killing one.
“Mental health really plays into these two incidents that we saw this week, and police are on the frontline,” former NYPD deputy commissioner Rich Esposito said.
Esposito says while crime numbers are down, these incidents in such high-profile places give people a different impression.
“People get scared, and they need to be reassured,” Esposito said. “And that is that job of the mayor, the police commissioner, our elected officials. And you have to look at that and say, ‘Are we doing a good enough job?'”
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