The documents, unsealed by Manhattan federal Judge Kevin Castel, show that the NYPD reprimanded one of the officers involved in the high-profile 2012 shooting because the officer cracked open MohamedBah’s door in order to insert a pole camera inside.
The officer “failed to await authorization from the duty Captain prior to taking additional action against an armed and emotionally disturbed person who was contained, and posed no immediate threat of danger,” according to the 2014 report, unsealed on Tuesday.
The report recommended that the offending officer “familiarize yourself with Patrol Guide Procedure” for dealing with mentally ill people.
Officers shot Bah eight times in his Harlem apartment after his mother called 911 for an ambulance, saying her son had “mental problems.”
Bah’s mother said she was worried he would hurt himself and when police arrived they found him naked holding a knife.
The police said they shot Bah because he was lunging at them with the knife. They were cleared of any wrongdoing in Bah’s death by a Manhattan grand jury in 2013.
Tuesday’s documents, however, suggest the NYPD wasn’t without flaws in its handling of Bah, saying that the police cracked open his door using a “rabbit tool,” which then prompted Bah to open the door and wave his knife around.
The newly unsealed documents mark “the beginning of the end of the cover up that tried to … put the blame on Mr. Bah for the events that caused his death,” said Debra Cohen, one of the lawyers representing the Bah family.
The Bah’s family Manhattan federal court lawsuit alleges that the cops fired 10 bullets at Bah because a confused officer screamed out that he was being stabbed when he had actually been Tasered by a colleague.
Judge Castel ruled that the case could move forward in 2014.