NYPD Synagogue Shooting Looks Justified, Commissioner Says
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iStock Editorial/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The police shooting of a stabbing suspect at the Brooklyn headquarters of an Orthodox Jewish sect early Tuesday morning “looks like it was justified,” New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said.
An officer with seven years on the force shot and killed Calvin Peters, 49, after police “gave verbal commands for the male to drop the knife,” Bratton said.
The incident happened about 1:45 a.m. inside the headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch. Peters walked into the facility asking for a book, police said. He then stabbed a 22-year-old student from Israel in the side of the head with a nine-inch knife, they added.
Witnesses said the man was repeating, “Kill all Jews,” as he stabbed the student, according to an emailed statement from Rabbi Motti Seligson of Chabad-Lubavitch — though Bratton later said reports the suspect uttered an anti-Semitic phrase were unverified.
When officers arrived, they ordered Peters to drop the knife, police said. He placed it on a table, but then picked it up and walked toward some of the officers, officials added.
Cell phone video captured the incident. It showed officers yelling at a man and captured the sound of the single gunshot.
Peters was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he died. The police said stabbing victim also was taken to the hospital and was listed in stable condition.
Seligson identified the student as Levi Rosenblat.
“While we are very pained by everything that has unfolded, we are very grateful to the police for their quick response and are working closely with the authorities in their ongoing investigation,” Seligson said in his emailed statement. “We commend the heroic efforts of the individuals who were present and took immediate action, if not for their intervention the outcome could have been, G-d forbid far worse. We continue to pray for the young man who is in stable condition.”
Police were confident the incident was not terrorism but rather the work of someone with a history of being an emotionally disturbed person.
However, Deputy Commissioner John Miller said, “concern that the news of this story might bring to houses of worship around the city” means some extra patrols around synagogues.
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