Family of Brooklyn man killed by NYPD files notice of claim against city

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) -- The family of an armed Brooklyn man who was shot and killed by NYPD officers earlier this year has filed a notice of claim against the city.

"The footage we have does not show Christin pointing the gun at anyone," said Attorney MK Kaishian, who represents Christin Emile's family.

She does not deny that Emile had a gun on him, which can be seen in the NYPD Body Camera video and surveillance video of the May 12 incident that the New York State Attorney General released.

Emile's family questioned why Emile was shot multiple times in the back while running away from police officers.

"As I watched the video of his murder, we were filled with sadness and so many questions, like, do these officers even deserve a badge?" his cousin, Shanell, said at a news conference on Monday.

In the hours after the shooting, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said that officers on patrol on Church Avenue in East Flatbush "observed a male, pointing a gun at another male."

The video shows one of the officers did try to use a stun gun first on Emile, but he kept running with the gun.

"I think the officers showed restraint in waiting as long as they did to discharge him when he was clearly demonstrating to them that he was not going to comply," Ralph Cilento, a Retired NYPD lieutenant commander of Detectives and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told PIX11 News.

"He's fleeing away from the police in a direction where there are cars and windows and civilians walking; even at one o'clock in the morning, there are still people on the street; you can see it on the video. So the officers are allowed to fire in defense of bodily harm to themselves or another human, in the face of potentially deadly physical force, which is what a firearm is," Cilento added.