The New York attorney general has opened an investigation into the death of a man police fatally shot in Brooklyn earlier this week.
A spokesperson for Eric Schneiderman said in a statement his office is "committed to conducting an independent, comprehensive, and fair investigation" into Wednesday's shooting.
Police officers shot and killed 34-year-old Saheed Vassell after authorities responded to several 911 calls about a man pointing "a silver firearm at people on the street" in Brooklyn.
When officers located the suspect, police say he "took a two-handed shooting stance and pointed an object at the approaching officers." That led the officers to fire 10 shots.
Vassell was actually carrying a silver pipe attached to a cylinder-shaped object. Locals told reporters he was known for picking up trash and playing with it like toys.
Vassell was known to both the Brooklyn community and police as being mentally ill; his father said he had bipolar disorder.
