New York City police shot and killed a man on Friday morning after he climbed onto the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge and approached officers with a knife, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD). A 911 call was made at around 3:28 a.m. on Friday, reporting that a man was walking on the beams of the Brooklyn Bridge. Officers from the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit (ESU) responded and found a man “walking on the bridge cables,” said Gerald Dowling, the commanding officer of ESU, during a news conference on Friday. “Members of ESU climbed onto those cables and attempted to establish a verbal dialogue with the male and safely remove him from the bridge,” Dowling said. He noted that the officers spent nearly an hour speaking with the man, explaining that they were there to help and trying to convince him to get down from the bridge safely. During the interaction, the officers observed that the man was holding a knife. The man told the officers: “I want to die, I want you to kill me. I have a bomb. You are not going to make me do something bad to the cops.” Throughout the interaction, Dowling said, the officers continued trying to convince him to get down safely, while also issuing “multiple verbal commands for him to drop the knife.” After about an hour, hundreds of feet above the East River, the man “began to quickly descend the cable of the bridge towards the officers,” Dowling said, adding that at the time, the officers were still clipped to the bridge and positioned below the man on the same cable. Dowling explained that ESU officers wear safety gear, including a harness, which is “physically clipped into the bridge” for their safety, and noted that “being secured to the bridge drastically impacts the speed of their movement.” “The officers began to move backwards away from the male, but they were not able to move as quickly as the subject who was approaching them,” Dowling said. “When the male got within approximately 3 feet from the closest member of ESU, he raised his arm with the knife extended outward towards the officer.” At that point, Dowling said, an ESU officer “who was on the roadbed of the bridge discharged his weapon one time, striking the male.” The officers then brought the male down from the cable and began rendering aid. The man was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased. A knife and a flashlight were recovered from the scene. Officials said that the entire incident was captured on police-worn body cameras. On social media, the police shared a photo of what they said was the knife recovered from the scene. The police have not yet released details regarding the identity of the man. “This incident is being investigated by the force investigation division,” Dowling said. The shooting came several days after police shot and killed a woman in Times Square after she attacked two people with knives, killing a 32-year-old woman.