New York police shot dead an African American man in Brooklyn on Wednesday after mistaking a piece of pipe he was holding for a gun.
The shooting – which followed a similar incident that sparked protests in Sacramento and which came on the 50th anniversary of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr's assassination – is the latest in a string of killings by police that have sparked a nationwide debate on violence by law enforcement.
ALSO READ: Anger mounts in US over police shooting of unarmed black man
The shooting occurred shortly before 17:00 in Crown Heights, a predominantly black neighbourhood in the heart of Brooklyn.
Officers responded after receiving three 911 emergency calls saying a man was pointing an "object that appears to be a gun" at people on the street, said Terence Monahan, Chief of Department for the New York police.
When police approached, the man "took a two-handed shooting stance and pointed an object at the approaching officers," Monahan said.
Four officers fired 10 shots at the man, who was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Denouncing conduct of police
The object the man was holding was not a gun, but rather "a pipe with some sort of knob on the end of it," Monahan said.
Shortly after the shooting, dozens of people gathered at the scene, with many shouting and denouncing the conduct of the police, according to footage broadcast live on Facebook.
According to media reports, the victim of the shooting was known in the neighbourhood and was mentally ill, but not violent.
ALSO READ: 2 officers in black man's fatal shooting won't be charged
The shooting came less than three weeks after police in the city of Sacramento fired 20 rounds at 22-year-old Stephon Clark, fearing he was carrying a weapon.
Clark, who was killed, was actually holding an iPhone.
Anger over the March 18 shooting erupted into days of protest in the streets of downtown Sacramento, with marchers blocking traffic and clashing with police in riot gear.
Police claim the man they gunned down "took a two-handed shooting stance" and aimed a metal pipe at them https://t.co/2D59LV4EQC pic.twitter.com/XjyV70ZamZ
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) April 5, 2018
The man police killed has been identified as Saheed Vassell, a 34-year-old father #SaheedVassell https://t.co/17zvsmmJ1p pic.twitter.com/goahdJXWTG
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) April 5, 2018
#SaheedVassell's father said his son was bipolar. "He hasn't taken his medication for years," Eric Vassell explained. "I saw him this morning. He was the same." https://t.co/9u8pRxpujf pic.twitter.com/TtJPbUnqZS
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) April 5, 2018