Horrifying new footage shows the moment an NYPD officer fatally shot a man who had his mother in a chokehold while claiming to be armed with a knife.
The terror took place on December 23 in an apartment in The Bronx. In the new bodycam video, officers Alex Morgese and Mohammad Hossain are seen rushing into the house after a 911 call was made about a man behaving violently.
The caller alleged that the suspect, Michael Dotel, “had ingested drugs, was acting violently and was in possession of a knife.” The video begins with police in the hallway of the building in the Bedford section of the violence-plagued neighborhood.
Screams are heard as one of Dotel’s officers demands he let them in. As soon as the door opens, an unidentified person runs out the front door.
The police enter and are greeted by Dotel, 30, who shouts, “Do it right now!” Do it, I challenge you! Do it! She’s going to get it!’
“Do you have a knife in your hand?” Morgese shouts back. ‘Shoot me! Shoot me! Straight away!’ Dotel screams. “Do you have a knife?” Morgese replies. ‘Do it! Do it! Do it!’ is the answer.
Officer Alex Morgese is seen on his partner’s bodycam holding a gun to Michael Dotel, 30, as he puts his mother in a chokehold
Officer Mohammad Hossain can be seen with a taser drawn as gunfire erupts
‘Where is the knife? Drop the knife?’, Morgese insists. “I have the knife!” the attacker shouts back. ‘Drop the knife! Where is it?’ the officer asks again. ‘Understood!’ says Dotel.
At that moment, Morgese shoots Dotel once, killing him. The two victims who were in the house were his mother, Clary, 45, and his girlfriend, 19.
Clary told the local outlet The Norwood News that she did not believe police handled the incident properly, while adding that she had sought help for her son weeks before the shooting.
He even went to St. Barnabas Hospital to be treated for depression, but said, “They didn’t help me… They didn’t do anything.”
The outlet also posted a photo of a small shrine erected outside his home in Dotel’s memory.
‘To the first love of my life, I can’t believe I’m sitting here writing this. It hurts me that you are no longer with us. He was depressed and had many problems. It’s very sad,” read the message, written by Dotel’s sister.
‘My son went crazy and tried to kill me. I felt like I was having a heart attack,” Clary said ABC New York in an interview at the time of the original incident.
During the altercation he was armed with a meat cleaver which he used to cut his girlfriend in the face. His mother was also bleeding from the neck, officers said.
The suspect was nicknamed “The Hulk” in his community because of his strength and size.
At the time of his death, Dotel was facing three criminal charges, reports said The New York Post. The outlet adds that Dotel had a history of drug use and mental illness.
The building where the shooting occurred, Bedford Greenhouses, is a housing facility for people struggling with drugs and other problems. NYPD officers have been called to the building several times.
According to a crowdfunding page set up to help pay for Dotel’s funeral, his mother said her son has two daughters, aged six months and three years.