Police officer shoots man with knife on Brooklyn Bridge after prolonged standoff
Detective Nicholas Giordani engaged a knife-wielding individual on the Brooklyn Bridge for about 50 minutes before Sgt. Dennis Dooley fired, killing the man who was later pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.
Video captured 41-year-old Chaun Bottom walking along the Brooklyn Bridge cables at about 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 4, leading Detective Nicholas Giordani of the NYPD Emergency Services Unit to climb up and repeatedly ask Bottom to descend and drop his knife. Giordani’s pleas lasted roughly 50 minutes, during which he tried to reason with Bottom and urged him to move toward the bridge’s center. Near the end of the encounter, Bottom lifted his knife and charged, prompting Sgt. Dennis Dooley, positioned on the bridge’s roadbed, to fire a single round that hit Bottom.
Emergency responders retrieved the injured man, who was taken to Bellevue Hospital and pronounced dead. ESU Chief Gerard V. Dowling later said Bottom claimed he wanted to die and threatened a bomb. The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division will keep investigating the fatal shooting.
Why it matters
The incident raises questions about police use of lethal force in high-risk confrontations.
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