Officers fatally shoot 2 men in separate confrontations in Brooklyn: NYPD

Police officers fatally shot two men in separate confrontations hours apart in Brooklyn, the NYPD said Wednesday.

The first shooting happened at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in Canarsie, the other shooting took place early Wednesday morning in Crown Heights.

In the first shooting, police were responding to a report about an emotionally disturbed person at 967 E. 99th Street in Canarsie, according to a statement from Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan.

When officers arrived at the residence, they confronted a man person inside who entered the kitchen, picked up a 13-inch knife and approached the officers, investigators said.

One officer deployed his Taser, which did not stop the man, who continued to approach the officers with the knife, authorities said. The second officer fired his gun and struck the man, who was later identified as 63-year-old James Owens.

Owens was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The second shooting happened at 3:40 a.m. Wednesday when plainclothes officers and a sergeant on patrol heard gunfire and saw a man firing into the B-Hive Lounge in Crown Heights, a statement from Monahan said.

After the officers exited their vehicle and approached the man, he fled but then turned toward them with his gun in hand, authorities said. Two officers fired their weapons, and the man was hit in the midsection.

The man, identified as 18-year-old Joshua Martino, later died at Brooklyn Hospital.

A .38 caliber revolver police said he was carrying was recovered at the scene.

Investigations into both shootings continue.