Videos and 911 Transcripts Reveal Confusion Moments Before Police Kill Mentally Ill Crown Heights Man

Police on Friday released longer videos and the full transcripts of 911 calls of the moments leading up to the police killing of a mentally ill Crown Heights man earlier this week. 

Thirty-four-year-old Saheed Vassell was shot nine times when officers rushed to the scene and opened fire.

In the minutes before his death, he'd approached at least seven people while walking down the street, pointing a metal object at them as if it were a gun, according to a complication of videos released by the police Friday.

But the release muddied earlier police accounts that claimed neighbors were clearly afraid of Vassell before he was shot. The fuller transcripts show passersby were uncertain what was going on. The transcripts show that a police reference to a woman telling her child to "get on the ground" wasn't in response to Vassell as police had suggested to reporters on Thursday, but in response to police firing their guns. 

The police haven't released the video of the shooting itself. 

The calls and videos reveal a confusing and tense situation where some onlookers were positive Vassell had a gun. Others weren't so sure. 

"If it’s a gun or not, I don’t know, you know, but I called the cops, hell yeah I called the cops," one 911 caller said.

"I just called the cops because I saw him doing it to like five people in the street. It’s not the gun," one caller said.

"I don’t know if it’s a gun ma’am. It seems like a gun. It’s silver." said another.

Police say Vassell took a shooting stance and pointed the metal object at them when they arrived on scene. They have not released videos of the shooting itself, or the audio recordings of the 911 calls.

Vassell was found with a metal pipe with a knob on it, not a gun.

All Things Considered Host Jami Floyd speaks with WNYC reporter Robert Lewis and Cindy Rodriguez about Vassel's death.