The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened an investigation into the death of a Medford man who was shot and killed by police in Suffolk last Wednesday, a spokesman for the attorney general told Newsday.
Under state law, their Office of Special Investigation investigates every incident in which a correctional officer, through act or omission, may have caused the death of a person. Last week, the attorney general’s office said it had begun a preliminary assessment to determine if an investigation was needed.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison called it a “justified shooting.”
Suffolk Police said Enrique Lopez, who lived in a home run by a charity for people with disabilities and mental health problems, was shot dead last Wednesday night after lunging at three police officers and stabbing two of them .
One officer was on a ventilator after being stabbed in the collarbone and groin and suffering “life-threatening injuries,” Dr. James Vosswinkle, head of trauma at Stony Brook University Hospital, told reporters on Thursday. On Tuesday, police said they had no further information on the officer’s condition.
The other injured officer was stabbed dangerously close to the heart by his bulletproof vest, Vosswinkel said. He was discharged from the hospital on Friday.
Police have not released the names of the officers who were stabbed or said which officer fired the fatal shot.
In April 2021, James launched an initiative directing her Office of Special Investigation to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute any crime that a police officer may have committed in connection with an incident in which the officer causes the death of a person Has.
Suffolk County Police Department officers were the subject of two completed OSI investigations, with investigators finding that officers had reason to believe they were in danger, according to OSI’s annual reports released in 2021 and 2022. Four other Suffolk County police officers have been referred to the OSI for cases since 2021, with one pending investigation, another in preliminary evaluation and two closing after investigators determined police did not cause the person’s death, the official said most recent OSI report filed in September.
Statewide, OSI was prosecuting four officers — three in New York City and one in Ulster County state — on murder charges, according to the September report.
The OSI consists of 18 assistant attorneys general from eight state regions, including Nassau County, and 15 detectives.
Harrison said Thursday that three Sixth Precinct officers responded to an 911 call around 5 p.m. Wednesday at an apartment in the Blue Ridge Condominium Complex on Birchwood Road in Medford, where Lopez reportedly threatened others with a fire extinguisher.
“With my 30 years of law enforcement experience, this is a valid shooting for me,” Harrison said Thursday. “You have a person who is lunging at cops in close proximity. He actually committed the act of stabbing the officers. It appears the officers did nothing but use their guns to stop the force to prevent anyone else from being stabbed. ”
Harrison also said investigators are reviewing reports that neighbors have made numerous calls to the Homeowners Association and the police about Lopez, 56, who allegedly has a history of erratic behavior.
Online court records show that Lopez, who previously resided in East Patchogue, was charged with assault in February 2011. He later pleaded guilty and served two years in prison, followed by 15 months of probation, parole department records show.
Harrison said the 2011 arrest of Lopez involved the assault of a Suffolk County police officer, and court records show he was charged with resisting arrest during that incident.
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