New York City police released body-worn camera footage Friday showing the moment officers shot and killed a man who had just stabbed three people at the 42nd Street-Grand Central subway station last month.
The video, posted to the NYPD's YouTube page, shows detectives Ryan Giuffre and Anthony Manetta confronting Anthony Griffin, 44, as he walked up a stairwell holding a large knife above his head. The encounter began at around 9:40 a.m. on April 11.
The footage shows officers ordering Griffin to drop the weapon repeatedly. He retreats back down the stairs, then turns and moves toward the officers with the blade still raised. Detective Giuffre can be heard pleading with him. "Nobody wants to hurt you," he says. "We can talk about it. Get down. Get down. Dude, I'm not going to ask you again. Please. Please. Please. Get down!"
Griffin does not comply. At different points in the video he shouts, "I don't want to be here. Shoot me," and "I am Lucifer." Giuffre fires two shots. Griffin drops immediately. He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said officers ordered Griffin to drop the knife at least 20 times before they opened fire. "Our officers were confronted with an armed individual who had already injured multiple people and was continuing to pose a threat," she said. "They gave clear commands. They attempted to de-escalate. And when that threat did not stop, they took decisive action to stop it and to protect New Yorkers on one of the busiest train platforms in the city."
The three stabbing victims were an 84-year-old man, a 65-year-old man, and a 70-year-old woman. All three suffered what Tisch described as "significant lacerations to the head and face." One sustained a skull fracture. None of the wounds were considered life-threatening.
Griffin had attacked the victims randomly before officers arrived, according to police.
