Romeo P. Butihi

How they died

Deadly force

Four patrolmen responded to a dispatch call after a woman called police and said her father was threatening her and her mother with a knife. The daughter took the knife away, but the man grabbed a nail gun and fired a nail into his own chest, police said. The man then announced "suicidal intentions," Cuomo said. "He also threatened to kill any officers who responded," police said. Officers got the wife out of the house, but the daughter remained locked in a bedroom. The man walked toward officers holding a spear gun and what appeared to be a rifle and refused to drop the weapons despite several warnings. The rifle turned out to be an air rifle. One patrol officer fired two shots from his service pistol, killing the man.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Romeo P. Butihi, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources