Here in New York, police officers responding to a 911 call shot dead a mentally troubled African-American man on a street corner in Brooklyn on Thursday. At the time of his death, Saheed Vassell was holding a metal pipe that looked like a shower head. Police say they mistook it for a gun. The NYPD said four officers—three in plainclothes and one uniformed—fired 10 rounds at Vassell, a Jamaican immigrant. One witness said, “They didn’t say 'freeze, hands up, drop your gun,' none of that. They didn’t say nothing. All they did was start shooting.” Vassell’s father said his son was bipolar. Wednesday’s shooting sparked an intense standoff between angry residents who knew Vassell and police.

Protester: “Murderers! You guys kill us all! You guys kill us! A young man, in his own community, shot down yet again. Yet again!”