Two NYPD officers who fatally shot 21-year-old Christopher Ferguson and wounded his girlfriend during a high-speed police pursuit in Crown Heights in December 2024 will not face criminal liability, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Oct. 14.

After a thorough investigation, including interviews with the involved officers and witnesses, a review of body-worn camera and dashboard camera footage and Automatic Vehicle Location data, and a comprehensive legal analysis, James’ Office of Special Investigations (OSI) found no criminal liability in the deadly use of force that killed Ferguson, who had pointed a firearm at officers following the pursuit.

According to the OSI report, NYPD officers received a ShotSpotter alert at 2:57 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2024, reporting a possible shooting at the Whitman Houses public housing complex at 81 North Portland Ave. in Fort Greene. When officers arrived, a witness showed them a photo of the car involved in the incident, which had out-of-state license plates. Security footage shows Ferguson getting out of the passenger seat of a black Honda with Mississippi license plates and firing shots at a person who ran away.

The NYPD’s Crime Scene Unit later recovered three discharged 9mm Luger-caliber shell casings. A microscopic analysis by the NYPD Police Laboratory’s Firearms Analysis Section found that the casings had been fired from Ferguson’s gun.

According to footage from the officers’ body-worn cameras, they spotted the black Honda near the intersection of Fulton Street and Vanderbilt Avenue at 3:11 p.m. and radioed for backup to pull over the car. As officers approached the vehicle, the driver fled, leading police on a high-speed pursuit from Fulton Street onto Schenectady Avenue, then eastbound on Atlantic Avenue and southbound on Utica Avenue. The car eventually became stuck in traffic at the intersection of Park Place and Utica Avenue in Crown Heights, where the shooting occurred.

Body camera footage shows one officer exiting his police car with his gun drawn and running toward the passenger side of the black Honda. When the officer reached the car, Ferguson, who could not get out because another vehicle blocked the passenger door, pointed a gun at the officer. The officer yelled ‘Gun’ and fired his weapon, striking Ferguson in the head and body.

The officer then chased the female driver, who had been shot twice by a different officer and was attempting to flee, and tackled her to the ground. Another officer fired several rounds after hearing gunshots and his colleague yelling, "Gun." When an officer noticed the driver’s 3-year-old child in the back seat, the footage shows him immediately running to the rear driver’s side door, removing the child from the back seat and carrying them away from the shooting.

After the shooting, Ferguson was transported to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that he had been shot 12 times, with wounds to his head, chest, abdomen, left leg and left arm. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death homicide.

The female driver sustained two gunshot wounds to her lower right leg during the encounter. She was also taken to Kings County Hospital, where she was treated and released. She was later indicted by a grand jury on various charges in a case brought by the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. Her child was not injured in the shooting.

According to the physical evidence, CSU recovered Ferguson’s gun, a 9mm Luger-caliber pistol with an extended magazine, near his body. The gun contained one live 9mm cartridge in the chamber and two live 9mm cartridges in the magazine. CSU also determined that the officer who shot Ferguson had fired 16 rounds from his fully loaded 9mm Glock 17.

Based on the findings, James determined that a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officers’ use of deadly physical force against Ferguson was unjustified under New York law. The final report formally closes the case following James’ Notification of Investigative Findings last year regarding the investigation into Ferguson’s death.

Gabriele Holtermann is a New York City-based photojournalist who covers politics, community events and breaking news across Brooklyn, and the five boroughs.

All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines . Schneps Media does not endorse the views shared by readers in our comment sections.