Police fatally shoot man after he threatens mother with screwdriver

SPRINGFIELD GARDENS, Queens (WABC) -- It was just after 3 a.m. Saturday along Westgate Street in Springfield Gardens when the desperate cries of a woman screaming for help prompted neighbors to call 911. When officers arrived, they came face-to-face with a 28-year-old man armed with a screwdriver, threatening to kill his mother, according to witnesses.

The man, identified by police as Jahliri Nicholson was in a small stairwell leading to the rear basement apartment.
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Police say they ordered Nicholson multiple times to put the screwdriver down and let his mother go, but he wouldn't listen. One officer used a taser, but missed, and as the struggle continued, both responding officers fired a round at Nicholson. He was then rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.


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Nicholson's mother and the officers were unhurt.

Police say Nicholson was first arrested in 2014 for criminal possession of a discarded firearm. He was also arrested in 2016 for criminal possession of a weapon for a defaced firearm.