Police said officers entered a Mott Haven apartment to arrest a 44-year-old man on active warrants before a standoff inside a bedroom ended in gunfire.
NEW YORK, NY — An NYPD officer fatally shot a 44-year-old parolee inside a Bronx apartment Thursday morning after officers trying to arrest him on active warrants said he refused repeated commands, claimed he had a gun and then brandished a firearm during a tense encounter in Mott Haven.
The shooting quickly became both a police use-of-force case and a test of how authorities explain fast-moving warrant arrests inside homes. Police identified the man as Lucien Colon and said officers from the department’s fugitive enforcement team went to 105 Willis Ave. to take him into custody on parole and bench warrants tied to sex offender reporting requirements. The immediate stakes were high for everyone in the apartment: officers were trying to complete an arrest in a confined space, and the encounter ended with Colon dead, a weapon recovered and multiple investigations set in motion.
According to police, members of the Bronx Warrant Squad arrived at the building at about 6:45 a.m. Thursday and were let into the apartment by a woman who was inside with Colon. Officers said they found him sitting on a bed in a rear bedroom with what appeared to be a handgun in his hand. Deputy Chief John Wilson said officers told him to show his hands and come out of the room, but Colon answered, “I have a gun,” and then told them, “It’s not gonna happen.” Wilson said the exchange lasted about 90 seconds as officers gave repeated verbal commands and tried to calm the situation before one officer fired, striking Colon in the face. He was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the officers involved were taken to a hospital for evaluation after the shooting.
Authorities said Colon had an active parole warrant and a bench warrant when officers went to the apartment. Police described him as a Level 3 registered sex offender, the highest risk classification under New York’s registry system, and said the warrants were tied to his failure to meet reporting requirements. Wilson also said Colon had been on parole since 2023 for a 2013 murder conviction and had a prior rape case from 1997. A firearm was recovered at the scene, police said, but investigators had not publicly laid out by Monday whether the gun was loaded, whether Colon pointed it directly at officers or how many rounds the officer fired. Those details are likely to matter as investigators reconstruct the final seconds inside the apartment. Police also had not publicly identified the officer who fired or said whether body-worn camera footage captured the entire encounter.
The location added another layer of attention to the case. The shooting happened in Mott Haven, a dense South Bronx neighborhood where police activity in apartment buildings often unfolds in tight hallways, small bedrooms and common spaces that can limit movement and lines of sight. That setting can shape both police tactics and witness accounts. In this case, Colon’s girlfriend told local television reporters she opened the door and was then pushed away from the bedroom area as officers moved in. She said events happened quickly and that she was kept in the hallway with her dog while officers tried to get Colon to come out. Her account broadly matched the police timeline on the location and speed of the confrontation, but it also underscored how chaotic the scene was for the people inside. As in many police shootings in homes, the public record remains incomplete in the first days because the most important evidence may come from officer statements, forensic work and any video still under review.
The legal path after the shooting is clearer than some of the unanswered facts. In New York, the state attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation reviews deaths that may have been caused by police officers. That means the case now moves beyond the department’s own force investigation process. The NYPD is also expected to conduct its internal review, including forensic testing, witness interviews and a reconstruction of the gunfire inside the apartment. Investigators will examine where officers were standing, how long the verbal exchange lasted, where the recovered weapon was found and whether the evidence supports the department’s account that Colon posed an immediate deadly threat. If prosecutors conclude a crime may have been committed, the state process can include presentation to a grand jury. If not, the attorney general’s office can issue a public report explaining why charges were not pursued. No charges against any officer had been announced as of Monday, and no public hearing date had been set.
Outside the building, the aftermath was quieter than the violence inside. Police tape marked off part of the block on Willis Avenue as officers and investigators moved in and out of the entrance. Images from the scene showed evidence markers and uniformed officers posted near the apartment building after sunrise. News cameras gathered as the department briefed reporters later in the day. Wilson praised the officers’ restraint, saying they spent about a minute and a half trying to de-escalate before the gunfire. Colon’s girlfriend, speaking outside the building, described hearing several shots and said the episode unfolded so fast that she had little time to process what was happening. The competing images from the day — a senior NYPD official defending the officers’ actions and a shaken witness recounting the confusion inside the apartment — captured the two tracks this case is likely to follow in the weeks ahead: a law enforcement narrative focused on threat and compliance, and a civilian account focused on fear, force and the speed of the final moments.
The case stood Monday as an active police shooting investigation, with the central unanswered questions likely to turn on forensic evidence, witness interviews and any video from inside the apartment. The next public milestone is expected to be further findings from the NYPD and review by the state attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation.
Author note: Last updated April 6, 2026.