Harrowing NYPD bodycam video shows police shooting man with a machete at Grand Central Station
The NYPD has released harrowing bodycam video of a deadly police shooting at the Grand Central subway station.
The shooting took place last month, when officers confronted Anthony Griffin, 44. Griffin had a machete and had slashed three people, authorities said.
The bodycam video shows the intense moments leading up to the shooting, as well as the shooting itself. Griffin, who had three prior arrests, was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital a short time later.
The incident took place at 9:40 a.m. on Saturday, April 11 inside Grand Central Station. A witness told two NYPD detectives on the subway station's mezzanine there was a man with machete on the train. As the detectives headed to the subway platform, they encountered a slashing victim, and Griffin, with the machete in his hand.
What the video shows
The bodycam footage shows Det. Ryan Giuffre and Det. Anthony Manetta on the mezzanine level of Grand Central Station near the entrance of the 4, 5, and 6 subway lines. They're approached by two MTA workers and a civilian who point them to the platform. As soon as they approach stairway to the uptown platform, they encounter Griffin, and they immediately start telling him to drop the machete.
The entire encounter with police took about a minute.
Giuffre: Listen, drop it! Drop it!
Manetta: Put that down! Put it down!
After multiple additional orders to put the machete down, Giuffre draws his weapon and points it at Griffin. Griffin, meanwhile, can be seen on video holding the knife, and lifting it up above his shoulder.
Giuffre: Dude, drop the f****** knife now! Drop the f****** knife! Drop the f****** knife! Drop the knife. Nobody wants to shoot you. Drop the f****** knife.
At that point, Griffin runs down the stairway and onto the platform. The officers pursue him, and again order him to drop the machete.
Giuffre: Listen, get on the ground! Please! Get on the f****** ground! Get on the f****** ground! Nobody wants to hurt you. We can talk about it. Get down! Get down! Dude, I'm not going to ask you again. Please! Please! Please! Get down!
Griffin can be heard shouting, "I don't want to be here," and "Shoot me." He then approaches the officers.
Manetta: Put it down! Put it down! Put it down, please! Sir! Put it down! Put it down!
Giuffre: Stop! Stop! Stop ... We're not doing it! We're not doing it! Get down! We're going to get you help. We're going to get you help!
Griffin then says "I am lucifer" and approaches the officers.
Giuffre again orders him to stop, and fires two shots.
The NYPD said Griffin had slashed an 84-year-old man, a 65-year-old man and 70-year-old woman.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani praised the response at the time of the incident, saying in a statement, "I'm grateful to the NYPD for their quick response and for preventing additional violence ... The NYPD is conducting an internal investigation and will release body-worn camera footage, as it does in all incidents involving the discharge of an officer's firearm."
