An NYPD lieutenant who fatally shot an armed suspect who mumbled “Shoot me” as he pointed a firearm at responding police in Brooklyn will not be prosecuted for the fatal use of force, officials said.
An investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James’s Office of Special Investigation determined that prosecutors would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lt. Richard Custodio was unjustified in firing the shot that killed 28-year-old Royston Bacchus following a foot pursuit through East Flatbush on Oct. 5.
Investigators with the Office of Special Investigation, which probes every death in the state caused by police, decided to drop the case against Custodio after interviewing officers involved in the incident, reviewing forensic and ballistics evidence, and body-cam footage, according to officials at the attorney general’s office.
Custodio, along with five other police officers, was chasing Bacchus in response to a 911 report of harassment and a violation of an order of protection after spotting him near E. 86th St. and Ave. B around 9:06 a.m., cops said.
Bacchus, who matched a description of the suspect, led police about a block and a half away to E. 86th St. and Coventry Road, where video shows the armed suspect standing in the middle of the street as cops repeatedly shout “Drop the gun!”
As the video shows, as Bacchus stands in the middle of the street facing the cops, Custodio yells at him to “Drop it!” 10 times. Several other officers also all simultaneously shout at him, “Drop the gun!,” “Drop the f—ing gun!” and “Don’t be stupid! Drop the gun!”
As Custodio gets closer to him, Bacchus starts to back up toward the curb, all the while clutching a gun in his left hand. He then says “Shoot me,” raises the gun slightly and points it in Custodio’s direction, at which the lieutenant fires a single shot. Struck in the chest, Bacchus immediately falls onto the curb, shrieking in pain.
Bacchus was wailing near the sidewalk as officers rushed to his aid. Police restrained him with handcuffs and then performed CPR.
Medics rushed the suspect to Kings County Hospital, where he died.
“I do not understand why it happened this way. To my son, you will not be forgotten,” Bacchus’ father, Royston Bacchus Sr., said at a vigil for him, according to News 12 Brooklyn.
Cops recovered a loaded firearm at the scene, Giordano said. The NYPD released a photo of the recovered firearm later in the day.