Person of interest in homicides killed by officers in Brooklyn, NYPD says

NEW YORK — Officers shot and killed a man inside a Brooklyn apartment Friday afternoon, police say.
According to police, the man, identified as 38-year-old Vilmond Jean Baptiste, was a person of interest in three deadly stabbings.
The shooting happened within the first hour of Tom Donlon being sworn in as interim police commissioner following the resignation of former New York City Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban.
NYPD officials say Brooklyn Warrant Squad members were sent to an apartment building on East 21st Street near Dorchester Road in the Flatbush neighborhood around 5:20 p.m. to search for Jean Baptiste, who was wanted for a bench warrant and suspected in other crimes.
According to police, officers were allowed into the apartment. Police said officers spotted Jean Baptiste in a hoodie hiding in a bathtub and instructed him to get out and show his hands. NYPD officials said the officers then realized he was armed with a knife and told him to drop it.
NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey B. Maddrey said a sergeant on the scene tried to deploy a Taser, but it didn’t work. Jean Baptiste then allegedly jumped out of the tub and advanced on the officers.
Maddrey said at least three officers fired their weapons, striking Jean Baptiste. It’s unknown at this time how many shots they fired.
“The male went down. The members of the warrant squad were able to subdue him, put him in handcuffs, and at that point, they started to render life-saving measures,” Maddrey said.
Witness Kadeem Muhammad said he was outside the apartment and heard the shots.
“Next thing you know you hear a whole bunch of shots ring off, and after that one of the family members come out saying, ‘They shot my brother, they killed my brother,'” he said.
Jean Baptiste was taken to a local hospital, where he died.
The warrant squad members were also taken to a local hospital to be checked out as a precaution.
Any time an officer discharges their firearm, the NYPD conducts an internal use of force investigation to determine if force was necessary.
Jean Baptiste had one prior arrest in 2015 for reckless endangerment, and an open and active bench warrant that was issued in 2022, police say.
NYPD officials said Jean Baptiste was “a strong person of interest” in the deaths of three people:  a 54-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man who were stabbed to death in July, and a 66-year-old woman who was stabbed to death in August.
According to police, Jean Baptiste was in a romantic relationship with one of the stabbing victims.
“His MO seems to be he begins to date older women and then they allow him to reside in his house to use narcotics,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
There was tension between the police and neighbors during the incident. Citizen video shows neighbors shouted at officers outside the building.
Police officials said as Jean Baptiste was being taken out of the apartment building on a stretcher, at least one individual threw bottles at NYPD officers. One officer was hit in the head with a bottle and taken to a local hospital, police said.
CBS News New York’s Dan Rice was over the scene in Chopper 2 and said officers were seen chasing someone down the street. Officers handcuffed that individual and placed them into a police cruiser.
Police did not say if anyone was taken into custody or arrested at the scene.
The investigation is ongoing.

Derick Waller

contributed to this report.