Body camera footage showing Luis Padilla, who was later shot by an NYPD officer, surrounded by police in his Maspeth basement (Source: NYPD)
April 13, 2021 By Christian Murray
The NYPD released video footage of a man shot twice by a police officer inside his basement in Maspeth earlier this year.
The incident, which may be disturbing to watch, took place on the evening of Friday, Jan 8 after police received a 911 call at around 6:20 p.m. that a man was hallucinating at his home at 54-55 64th St.
The police responded after an unidentified woman called 911 requesting medical and police assistance. The caller said that the man– identified as 41-year-old Luis Padilla– was in possession of a machete and destroying the basement.
The footage, which came from the body cameras of several officers, shows a distraught man pulling out a knife—before an officer fired two rounds at him and another cop tasered him. The shots were not fatal.
Several officers from the 104th Precinct arrived on the scene. The footage is taken by cameras worn by officers Stephen Sheehan, Ryan McMahon, Steven Parsell and Liam Dale.
Upon arrival, they discovered Padilla and questioned him about his drug use. Police had visited him earlier that same day and he was taken to Elmhurst Hospital after being on drugs. He was then released from hospital hours later.
There was another man in the basement whose face and name was not shown in the footage. He could be heard speaking to officers.
“He broke up with some f–king broad,” the unidentified man told police. “He started smoking some [crystal] meth and had a bad f—king trip. He was suicidal…they took him to Elmhurst and released him.”
Padilla also claimed that someone was trying to get him and they were in the pipes of the house.
Cops asked Padilla about his drug use and he conceded that he had used meth but not since he got back from the hospital.
“I was fine at the hospital,” Padilla told the officers. “Then I got home and things started changing.”
Padilla also told officers that his phone had broken.
“I think my phone was hacked,” he said. “With everything else going on, it makes it sound like I’m crazy.”
He also said that his phone was emitting a high-pitched noise.
Padilla, whose head was in his hands, was calm for the most part until an officer suggested he get medical help.
“We just have to call EMS and figure everything else after that,” the officer said.
Padilla then panicked and reached into his pants and pulled out a 5 1/2 inch knife—although it was not pointed at the officers.
“I’m not going back to the f–king hospital,” he yelled.
McMahon fired his taser at Padilla, knocking him off his feet onto a stairwell. Video then shows Sheehan firing his gun twice striking him in his lower and upper back.
As they were shooting, the unidentified man can be heard yelling at the cops.
“Don’t shoot him,” the man said. “No, no, please.”
Padilla was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition where he was treated. He was later released.
He was charged with one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. The Queens District Attorney’s office is prosecuting the case.
Luis Padilla was wielding this knife at 54-55 64th St. before he was shot by an NYPD officer from the 104th Precinct (NYPD and Google)
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