59°
Luan Agolli, 42, of Pequannock lifts the gun several times, refusing to drop it, as he paces the intersection of Carroll and Harrison streets surrounded by officers just after 4:15 p.m., the video obtained by Daily Voice shows (see above).
At times he holds the weapon with both hands and points it at the converging officers.
"I'm giving him all these opportunities," says an officer in another video taken from the street as Agolli refuses to relent.
"This m*therf*ck*r got a death wish," says one of several witnesses who either stopped their cars or came running to record the confrontation.
"They got all right to shoot him -- he ain't putting the gun down," another is heard saying.
Officers advance from cover behind vehicles toward Agolli on three sides as witnesses shout.
"Hey, yo, kill that [expletive]!" one yells. "Light his ass up!"
Moments later, Agolli crosses the intersection.
Standing against a utility pole, he raises and points his weapon a final time at an officer barely 50 feet from him.
A burst of gunfire from police follows.
The gun falls from his hand and Agolli crumples at the corner.
"He wouldn't f**kin' put that sh*t down," ones of the witnesses is heard saying.
An Advanced Life Support Unit was summoned, but Agolli succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
No police were injured.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said the state Integrity Bureau within the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability and the New Jersey State Police Homicide Unit were investigating the incident, which is standard practice when a death occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer.
"According to the preliminary investigation, uniformed officers from the Paterson Police Department responded at approximately 4:09 p.m. yesterday to a 9-1-1 call reporting a man with a gun in the first block of Carroll Street," Grewal said.
"When officers arrived, they encountered the subject, later identified as Agolli, who was armed with a handgun and walking in and around the intersection of Carroll and Harrison Streets," the attorney general said.
"For several minutes, Agolli ignored repeated commands from the officers to drop his weapon and, instead, continued to walk in and out of the intersection, holding the gun in his hand and, at times, raising it.
"During the standoff, officers fired at Agolli, fatally wounding him," Grewal said. "Emergency medical personnel responded and Agolli was pronounced dead at the scene."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Fort Lee and receive free news updates.
