Family disputes NYPD's account of fatal police shooting of Queens man holding box cutter
The family of a 29-year-old man fatally shot by police in Queens over the weekend spoke out on Monday.
During an emotional press conference, his parents disputed the NYPD's account that he charged at officers with a box cutter.
"One officer said, 'Don't shoot,' and this officer shoot"
Sheanette Dunbar, the mother of Chez Fray, the man who died, said she begged two officers in her apartment building hallway on Nameoke Street in Far Rockaway on Sunday not to kill her son. Dunbar and Kevin Fray, Chez Fray's father, claim one officer gave the command to use a Taser, not a gun.
"One officer said, 'Don't shoot,' and this officer shoot," Kevin Fray said.
Police say the events leading up to deadly altercation began at around 12:30 a.m., when they received a call about a fight between the father and son, which civil rights activist Rev. Kevin McCall said the father disputes.
"[He] told the 911 operator that, 'My son is having erratic behavior. I want someone to come and talk to him,'" McCall said. "So there's no history of mental health at all. They asked if anyone is in danger or weapons [and] he said, 'No.'"
The parents say they brought the two responding officers up to the apartment, but their son wasn't there. As they were stepping out, police say Chez Fray was in the hallway with a box cutter in his hand.
"He has a box cutter because, you know, he smoked weed. The father hugged his son with the box cutter in his hand," McCall said.
The NYPD's account on Sunday
Police offered their account on Sunday, saying Chez Fray did not comply with demands to drop the box cutter.
"At this point, the 29-year-old male, still armed with a box cutter, charged at the officers," NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said. "One officer discharged her Taser. Immediately after, the second officer, who was within extremely close proximity to the armed male, discharged her firearm, striking the male as he continued to charge."
After the fatal shooting, the father was detained by police, but officials could not provide an explanation as to why. An NYPD source told CBS News New York the detainment is still being investigated. The father was not charged.
"To add insult to injury, after the shooting of Chez Fray, they arrested the father, had him in the cell for five hours, treated him like a criminal," McCall said.
Family wants the officers to be fired
The family is calling on the police worn body camera to be released and for the officers to be fired.
"The NYPD is supposed to be community policing, but then when policing a father for being a father after they killed their son," McCall said.
A representative for New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed that the Office of Special Investigation is conducting a preliminary assessment.