Brooklyn subway shooting: Suspect arraigned
The 37-year-old man shot by police inside a Brooklyn subway station after allegedly wielding a knife pleaded not guilty to a litany of charges, including criminal assault, possession of a weapon and menacing.
NEW YORK – The 37-year-old man shot by police inside a Brooklyn subway station after allegedly wielding a knife pleaded not guilty to a litany of charges, including criminal assault, possession of a weapon and menacing.
Derrell Mickles was arraigned Friday from a hospital bed due to injuries from Sunday’s messy confrontation with the NYPD, which also left two innocent bystanders and an officer shot by stray bullets.
Prosecutors also revealed that Mickles allegedly told officers, “You’re going to make me f****** kill you if you don’t leave me the f*** alone” when they told him to disarm at the Sutter Avenue Station L train station in Brownsville.
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Bail was set at $200,000 cash, and he is due back in court on Nov. 20.
What happened?
According to the NYPD, the shooting unfolded around 3 p.m. when two officers noticed Mickles entered the station without paying. Officers saw what appeared to be a knife in his hand.
The officers followed the man to the elevated subway platform, but he refused orders to stop and muttered threats at the officers, police said.
The Sutter Avenue Station in Brooklyn
“I’m not dropping the knife. Shoot me,” Mickles threatened, according to prosecutors.
When the L train pulled into the station, Mickles entered a train car and told officers, “Don’t touch me. Shoot,” prosecutors say.
Officers then fired two Tasers, but neither incapacitated him. Prosecutors say he chased after one of the officers on the platform with the knife in hand.
Both officers fired multiple rounds. Mickles was shot multiple times, but the gunfire also hit one of the officers and two bystanders, 49-year-old Gregory Delpeche and a 26-year-old woman.
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A video from a bystander posted online after the shooting showed a chaotic scene, including upset passengers fleeing, police running to help the injured and the wounded officer suddenly realizing a bullet had also hit him. In one video, victims can be seen lying on the ground in two separate subway cars.
Who is Derrell Mickles?
Mickles has a criminal record, with assault and drug convictions, according to both his lawyer and the prosecutor.
The lawyer also said Mickles does not “have substantial means” and was living in a Manhattan apartment. He had recently worked as a chef on Governor’s Island and the U.S. Open.
What happened to the bystanders and cop shot?
Delpeche was shot in the head by the stray bullet while commuting to work.
He has undergone cranial surgery to reduce swelling from a bullet wound in his head, according to his cousin.
“Right now he’s breathing through a tube,” Delpeche’s cousin, Greg Nougues, told The Associated Press in a phone call Tuesday as he was on his way to visit him in the hospital. He added that the family was in a “waiting game.”
Nougues said the prognosis is uncertain and that doctors had to open up his skull to operate on brain swelling. He said the family is looking for a lawyer.
A bullet grazed the 26-year-old woman, and the officer, who was shot near his armpit, is expected to recover.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
