Police shoot, kill man in Queens who threatened to 'blow the head off' cops

NEW YORK - A man who allegedly threatened to kill Gov. Kathy Hochul and police was shot and killed by NYPD officers in Queens on Saturday evening.

The shooting happened just after 6 p.m. in St. Albans, off of 166th Avenue.

According to sources, the suspect, a man, called 9-1-1 and said he would kill Gov. Kathy Hochul, numerous elected officials, and said he would "blow the head off" of the first police officers that he saw.

When officers arrived on the scene, police say the suspect emerged from a house and began swearing and shouting at police, refusing to follow orders to remove his hands from his pockets and raise them in the air. 

After a short verbal exchange, the man allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it in the direction of officers, leading to an exchange of gunfire between the man and six police officers.

NYPD officials said the man and the officers exchanged over 100 rounds of gunfire.

The man, identified by sources as Raoul Hardy, was struck by rounds fired by police and incapacitated. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

Officers involved in the shooting were taken to area hospitals for treatment of tinnitus. 

On Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams was asked about the shooting, and said he stood by the officers’ decision to use deadly force in that incident.

"When a police officer responds to a scene, they don’t have the individual's medical records. He doesn’t know he is dealing with someone in a mental crisis. They go with the information in front of them. In front of them, they had an individual with a gun willing to use that gun. And they took appropriate action," said Mayor Adams. 

Herman Epps,  a caretaker who works at a home just a few doors down from where the shooting happened told FOX 5 he would see Hardy around the neighborhood.

"He was known for doing people’s lawns and stuff like that. He didn’t seem to bother anybody," Epps said.

Another deadly police-involved shooting happened around an hour and a half later on Saturday in Downtown Brooklyn.

Police say a man attempting to escape law enforcement after a traffic stop pulled out a gun and was shot and killed by police.

Mayor Eric Adams said that the officer who shot that suspect was part of the NYPD's newly-branded Neighborhood Safety Teams that are meant to take guns off the streets.