NEW YORK, NY — The New York Attorney General’s Office has released body camera footage from a fatal police shooting on the Lower East Side, offering a closer look at a confrontation that ended with a man’s death in an apartment building on Ludlow Street.
The shooting took place Aug. 16 after officers responded to an assault call. According to authorities, officers encountered 54-year-old Wei Chan inside the building and say he was armed with a cleaver. Officials said Chan later died at a hospital after being shot by police.
The video was made public as part of the state’s review process for fatal encounters involving law enforcement. Authorities have not announced any findings tied to the shooting.
What police say happened inside the Ludlow Street building
Authorities said the officers went to the apartment building because of an assault call. Once inside, they came across Chan, whom they described as holding a cleaver during the encounter.
Officials said Chan charged toward the officers and did not comply with commands to drop the weapon. Police then fired, bringing the confrontation to a deadly end.
The released footage is intended to show part of what officers saw during the incident. The attorney general’s office has not said the video resolves any questions about whether the shooting was justified, and no official findings have been announced so far.
Wei Chan was taken to a hospital and later died
Chan was 54 years old when the shooting occurred. After being struck, he was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
That hospital transport is one of the few confirmed details about what happened immediately after the gunfire. Officials have not provided additional information about the medical response or the exact timeline between the shooting and his death.
The fatal outcome is the reason the case is being reviewed through the state process for police-involved deaths. That review often includes the release of body camera footage so the public can see at least part of the interaction that led to the shooting.
Attorney General Letitia James office makes the footage public
The video was released by Attorney General Letitia James’ office. The office said the footage came from body cameras worn by officers involved in the encounter.
State officials routinely review fatal encounters between police and civilians, and this release falls within that process. The public disclosure gives viewers access to the officers’ perspective, although officials have not attached findings or conclusions to the footage.
The office also included a warning that the video may be disturbing. That alert reflects the violent nature of the encounter and the fact that the footage captures a deadly use-of-force incident.
No findings have been announced in the investigation
Even with the body camera release, authorities have not announced any findings about what happened or whether officers followed policy. The case remains part of the broader state review of fatal police encounters.
That means the public has seen only the video and the basic account provided by authorities, not a completed legal or administrative assessment. For now, the release adds transparency but does not answer every question surrounding the shooting.
Officials have not said when any additional findings might be made public. Until then, the case stands as an open review of a deadly police encounter on the Lower East Side.
Body camera releases are meant to add transparency after deadly police encounters
The footage release highlights a process that has become familiar in New York when police use force in a fatal incident. Body camera video can help establish a timeline, show officer movements and capture the moments before shots are fired.
At the same time, such video rarely tells the whole story by itself. Investigators still examine witness accounts, physical evidence and officer statements before reaching conclusions.
In this case, the public record is still limited to the account from authorities and the newly released footage. What happens next will depend on the outcome of the state review, which has not yet produced any findings.
Viewer warning accompanies footage from a deadly confrontation
The Attorney General’s Office warned that the video may be disturbing, and viewers were advised to use discretion before watching it. That warning is common when police body camera footage shows a deadly confrontation.
The release centers on a shooting that began with a routine police response to an assault call and ended in a fatal encounter inside a residential building. The footage provides the public with a direct view of the moments surrounding the shooting, but officials have not drawn conclusions from it yet.
For residents of the Lower East Side and others following the case, the video release marks another step in a review that remains unfinished.
