The NYPD on Thursday, March 11, released body-camera footage of the May 2019 police shooting of a knife-wielding woman in Queens Village.
Police shot once at the woman, 49-year-old Lydia Spicer, after confronting her in front of a car wash located at 212-12 Jamaica Ave., on May 24, 2019, around 10 p.m., according to the NYPD.
Video shows officers Casey Thomas and William Crowe arriving to the scene to find Spicer yelling at the officers, telling them to shoot her. The woman also allegedly threw a glass bottle at the officers’ car as they arrived.
Spicer then reached into her handbag and pulled out a knife, according to the NYPD. She continued walking toward the officers as they began to back track, video shows. The trio made several circles around the parking lot of the car wash when Thomas said, “Shoot her.”
Crowe, who Spicer was pointing the knife at, didn’t fire his gun. However, a few moments later, Thomas fired a single shot at Spicer, hitting her in the stomach.
Despite being hit, Spicer continued to walk towards the officers, who continued to back pedal around the parking lot before Spicer eventually headed for the street.
Crossing Jamaica Avenue, Spicer neared a pedestrian who was watching the encounter unfold. By the time Spicer got near the pedestrian, two additional NYPD officers had arrived and one of them, Ryan Nelson, fired his taser at the knife-wielding woman.
After being hit, Spicer fell to the ground and dropped her knife, video shows. She was put into custody shortly after being tased.
EMS personnel arrived to the scene and took Spicer to Long Island Jewish Hospital, where she was treated for her gun shot wound and released into police custody.
She was charged with two counts of attempted assault, two counts of attempted aggravated assault on a police officer, two counts of menacing a police officer and one count of criminal possession of a weapon.
Watch the full video of the interaction below. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
