It happened shortly before 8 p.m. on Baltic Street in front of the Gowanus Houses in Boerum Hill.
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NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said two anti-crime officers in plainclothes were patrolling the housing complex in unmarked police cars when they spotted a man firing a gun in direction of another man.
They identified themselves as police officers and told the man to drop his weapon, Monahan said, but he did not comply.
The officers fired numerous rounds at the man, who was struck several times. Sources say the man also fired shots at the officers.
Nearly 30 shots were fired in total.
"Maybe about 10 shots, and then maybe a second later I heard like 'boom, boom boom,'" said a witness who didn't want to be identified. "It was crazy...I was like, this was too much. Somebody done got shot."
The suspect, later identified as Nasheem Prioleau, was rushed in critical condition to an area hospital, where he later died. A .09-mm weapon was recovered at the scene.
The officers were not injured, but they were taken to area hospitals to be evaluated.
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Police said Prioleau was released from prison last week after serving five years for robbery and has an extensive criminal history. Still, his family is speaking out as they look for answers themselves.
"Something went wrong out here yesterday with the cops we have, and I want answers to what happened to my son," mom Iashann Tyre said. "My son did not plan this. Whatever happened out here was not something my son was looking forward to happening to him out here."
Now, his family circles together and prays for Prioleau and looks for answers to what happened.
"He wanted to be there for his kids and his family," cousin Bishop Kareen Evans said. "He stated that he is older now and he wanted to actually be a productive citizen."
It was the first of two police-involved shooting just hours apart in New York City.
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