By Wendy Ruderman and Aaron Edwards
 

An onlooker captured vivid images of the Times Square confrontation using a cellphone. Other photos were copied by the police. Courtesy of Marc Steiner/The New York Times

Dozens of bystanders grabbed their cellphones and hit the record button as a knife-wielding man skipped backward through Times Square on Saturday. Some witnesses, holding their cellphones above their heads to capture the action, ran alongside police officers as they pursued the man down Seventh Avenue with guns drawn.

The dramatic scene, which unfolded on a sunny afternoon at the crossroads of one of the world’s busiest tourist destinations, ended as two officers confronted the man, Darrius H. Kennedy, 51, and fatally shot him when, the police say, he lunged at them.

Minutes after the shooting, video of the episode, which included audio of hammerlike gun shots, shouts of officers ordering the crowd to “move back,” and cursing from stunned spectators, was all over the Internet. Several witnesses posted their video on YouTube or Facebook and provided it to television stations. Viewers were riveted.

The video also caught the attention of law enforcement officials.

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Source: The New York Times