NYPD Cops Open Fire on Knife-Wielding Man on Brooklyn Subway

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Brooklyn, N.Y. — On September 15, 2024, at approximately 2:55 p.m., NYPD Officer Wong and Officer Mays were standing in the mezzanine of the Sutter Avenue L Train Station and observed 37-year-old Derrell Mickles enter and jump over the turnstile to avoid payment of the fare. Officer Wong and Officer Mays followed Mickles into the train station and, after a brief interaction, the officers ordered Mickles to leave the train station and he did so. As Mickles exited the train station, he displayed a knife in his right hand. At approximately 3:04 P.M., Mickles again entered the Sutter Avenue L Train Station. After loitering in the mezzanine for approximately one minute, Mickles unlawfully entered the transit system through the exit gate, again avoiding payment of the fare. Officer Wong and Officer Mays again followed Mickles into the train station. Officer Wong and Officer Mays encountered Mickles on the elevated northbound train platform, where Mickles held a closed foldable knife in his right hand.

The officers repeatedly ordered Mickles to drop the knife. Mickles refused to do so and became verbally combative. Mickles then entered the northbound L train, which was occupied by several civilian riders, and continued to refuse Officer Wong's and Officer Mays' orders to drop the knife. Once on the train, Mickles opened the blade of the knife and brandished it in his right hand. Officer Wong and Officer Mays both deployed their Taser Conducted Electrical Weapons, but the probes did not immobilize Mickles. Mickles then charged towards Officer Mays while brandishing the knife, before turning toward Officer Wong. As a result, Officer Wong discharged six shots from his service firearm, and Officer Mays discharged three shots from his service firearm. Mickles was struck by the gunfire and fell to the ground. Mickles maintained possession of the knife in his right hand.

Officer Mays approached Mickles and kicked the knife from his hand. Mickles was then taken into custody and the officers rendered aid to him. While the officers rendered aid to Mickles, a civilian bystander picked the knife up from the floor and left the scene with it. The person who removed the knife was later found and the knife was recovered. As a result of the gunfire, Officer Mays and two civilian bystanders sustained gunshot wounds. Officer Mays and the civilian bystanders were treated at area hospitals for their injuries. Mickles was transported from the scene via ambulance to Kings County Medical Center where he was treated for his injuries. For his actions, Mickles was arrested and charged with Attempted Assault in the First Degree, Menacing of a Police Officer, Theft of Services, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree.