New York's AG release bodycam of the fatal shooting of Christian Emile, who was armed with a gun

The New York attorney general's office on Thursday released security camera footage and body-worn camera video of the fatal police shooting of an armed man in Brooklyn on Mother’s Day.

The videos, released by the Office of Special Investigations, show the chaotic final minutes of 33-year-old Christian Emile’s life. He was gunned down by police around 1 a.m. on May 12, on a sidewalk at East 52nd Street and Church Avenue in East Flatbush.

The clear images bolster the claims by police at the time that Emile wielded a handgun when he was fired upon by members of the NYPD. An attorney for Emile’s family said the videos still raised questions about whether the use of deadly force was necessary. Both the NYPD and the attorney general’s Office of Special Investigations are investigating.

The videos show Emile milling about with others on the sidewalk before a passing NYPD patrol car stops. Police said at the time they had spotted Emile pointing a handgun at another person. One video, with no audio, shows Emile, clearly pointing a finger down the street.

The violence unfolded quickly as police arrived on the scene.

Surveillance video from a deli shows Emile attempting to flee with three officers, now out of the patrol car, close on his heels. At the 4:50 minute-mark, the video shows Emile in the street, maneuvering around a parked car. Flashes are seen from devices in the hands of two officers; police reported earlier that officers had also used a stun gun as they tried to subdue Emile.

In the video footage, Emile falls to the ground, stands up and continues running from police down the sidewalk. At the 4:54 minute-mark, Emile’s right arm – with a gun in hand – swings behind him in the direction of the officers. The video shows police firing their weapons.

The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the videos’ release. NYPD officials said in a briefing with reporters hours after the shooting that two police officers and a sergeant with the department’s Community Response Team were patrolling when they reported seeing Emile pointing a weapon.

The officers ordered Emile to drop the gun, and one officer “momentarily stunned” him with a Taser as Emile, weapon still in hand, continued running, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said in the earlier press conference.

“The male got back up, he still had the gun in his hand," Maddrey said. "He runs back on the sidewalk. The officers give further commands to the male to drop the gun, and they fire their weapons.”

Maddrey’s statement did not indicate that Emile was shot from behind or otherwise state the direction of the shots fired at him. Officials displayed a photograph of a handgun they said had been recovered from the scene.

Police shot Emile six times in the head, torso and thigh, according to the city's medical examiner.

The gun “isn’t pointed at anyone, and he’s fleeing for his life when he’s gunned down from behind,” MK Kaishian, Emile’s family attorney, told Gothamist after viewing the footage.

Police bullets shattered the door and walls of the deli. A shop clerk was grazed by a bullet and hospitalized. A family living next door discovered two more bullet holes in their apartment entrance, and two more bullet holes were discovered in a neighboring karate studio, where the storefront window was shattered.