BED-STUY – NEW YORK ATTORNEY General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation on Wednesday released its report on the shooting of Caesar Robinson, a 78-year-old man fatally shot on April 13, 2023 by the NYPD. Following an investigation, which included reviews of body-cam and security camera footage, interviews and legal analysis, the OSI concluded the shooting was likely justified.
According to the investigation, on the afternoon of April 13, police responded to a 911 call placed by a friend of Robinson’s of a possible burglary in progress at Robinson’s Bed-Stuy apartment. When officers Michael Antidormi and Nicholas Prisco knocked on his door, Robinson answered with a gun in his hand and raised it toward the officers, who ordered him to drop his weapon. Robinson did not do so, instead moving towards the hallway; Antidormi and Prisco then fired their own weapons, striking and killing him. Building security cameras later showed that Robinson had been alone in the apartment, and that there was no evidence any burglar had entered.
A still from Officer Antidormi’s body-cam footage of the moments before the shooting. The gun in Mr. Robinson’s hand is circled in yellow; his face has been obscured for privacy. Image sourced from the OSI report.
Under New York law, a police officer may use deadly force to defend against what they reasonably believe to be imminent use of deadly force by another. According to James’ office, given the evidence, a prosecutor at trial would not be able to disprove that the officers were justified, beyond a reasonable doubt. The attorney general therefore will not pursue criminal charges.
Activists at the time of the shooting protested, and demanded the release of body-cam footage: “The person on whose behalf the police were called ended up dying and that’s unforgivable,” Shivani Ishwar of the New York Community Action Project told Fox News, adding later that she believed deescalation training could have prevented the tragedy.
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