East Harlem man recounts chilling elevator ride with unhinged gunman killed in NYPD shoot-out

Threatening militant who died after Shootout with police in Manhattan The man previously threatened to kill an elevator resident before leaving the Upper East Side building with a gun, the man told the Daily News.

Just minutes before 20-year-old Elijah Brown was killed in shootout with police, a frustrated youth pointed a gun at an unsuspecting resident of the home and threatened to kill him, the resident said.

Mohammed, a taxi driver, said he was waiting for the elevator when Brown sidled up to him and asked if he knew him.

“I said, 'No. Do you live in this building? He says, “Yes,” Mohammed recalls.

When they got into the elevator, Brown asked him how old he was, he said. But Mohammed said he was paying more attention to Brown's hand behind his back. Mohammed said he thought the guy might have a knife until he moved his hand and pointed the gun.

“He said, 'I'll kill you,'” Mohammed recalls. “And I think it's not real. Maybe it's a toy and not a real gun. Is it a toy or something? And at that time I was taking his shoes off. He only had his socks on. Then I think something's wrong. Maybe this guy was drunk or took something.”

Moments later, the elevator opened and Brown walked through the lobby and left the building on Madison Avenue, near 106th Street.

Mohammed said he was afraid to die.

“God saved me,” he said. “Because this guy was crazy. Any time he would shoot, he would shoot me any time. Just luck.”

Brown's luck soon ran out on Madison Avenue near East 96th Street. Surveillance video obtained by the Daily News shows a young man dressed in black, without socks, holding a gun in his left hand, walking past pedestrians. When police catch up to him on a crowded sidewalk, the criminal turns around and fires at least one shot before being shot.

“This situation could have turned out differently,” said NYPD Patrol Chief Philip Rivera. “A person walked into multiple locations with a gun, threatened multiple people with that gun, and then shot at our officers in the middle of a busy sidewalk with civilians in close proximity.”

After threatening the taxi driver, Brown headed to a nearby deli on Madison Avenue at E. 107 St. He pointed a firearm at a deli worker standing behind the counter and told him, “Call 911, I'm going to the hospital to shoot him,” according to police. Before leaving the deli, he stole an employee's cell phone, according to police.

Then, placing the pistol near a tree outside, Brown entered Mount Sinai Medical CenterHe briefly scuffled with a security officer after telling him he had a gun, then returned outside and retrieved the firearm, according to police.

The off-duty police officer followed Brown outside and radioed for backup.

Some time later Brown was shoot with the police On Pavement.

According to police, responding 19th Precinct officers spotted Brown and exited their vehicles at Madison and 96th Street. Brown immediately began shooting at them, and the officers returned fire.

“Every day, our officers put on their uniform and face dangerous situations throughout the city,” Rivera said.

“But it's a different kind of danger when someone walks into a grocery store or a hospital with a gun and opens fire directly at the NYPD. It's a risk that every NYPD officer faces every single day to keep this city safe.”

The dead gunman's cousin said Brown's relatives lived in the building where he pulled the gun in the elevator and said he was probably there visiting.

“My cousin wasn't just another young kid or troublemaker,” the 25-year-old cousin said. “He was going through something. Everyone goes through something. The family is still trying to figure it all out and we're just trying to stay strong.”

The cousin said he had seen Brown earlier in the day and that he was fine.

“I’m one of the closest members of his family,” the cousin said. “He didn't tell me it was okay.”