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Bodycam footage shows officer fatally shooting a black man who produced a knife and said 'I'm gonna stab him' during tense stand-off - as his family calls for criminal charges against 'impatient, trigger-happy' cops

Bodycam footage recorded the moment an officer fatally shot a black man who produced a knife and said 'I'm gonna stab him' during tense stand-off.

Hasani Best, 39, was killed at his apartment in Asbury Park, New Jersey, after police responded to reports of a domestic dispute.  

The attorney general is investigating the shooting, which happened on August 21, after the video raised questions as to whether Best posed an immediate danger to officers when he was shot. 

Best's family and friends have now called for criminal charges against the 'impatient, trigger-happy' cops.

Officers had been responding to a domestic disturbance between Best and an unnamed woman. 

They arrived to find the woman standing outside the second-floor apartment as Best barricaded himself inside. 

Police spent around an hour trying to coax Best, with whom they were familiar from other encounters, out of a room in the apartment. 

Officers had attempted to use a Taser on Best during the standoff but were unable to subdue him before he headed back inside.

'We've dealt with you too many times, just drop the knife,' an officer said at one point during the encounter. 

'Drop the knife, come out and we settle this.'

Hasani Best, 39, was killed at his apartment in Asbury Park, New Jersey, after police responded to reports of a domestic dispute

Hasani Best, 39, was killed at his apartment in Asbury Park, New Jersey, after police responded to reports of a domestic dispute 

The attorney general is investigating the shooting, which happened on August 21, after the video raised questions as to whether Best posed an immediate danger to officers when he was shot (officers carrying Best out of the apartment)

The attorney general is investigating the shooting, which happened on August 21, after the video raised questions as to whether Best posed an immediate danger to officers when he was shot (officers carrying Best out of the apartment)

Best refused to do so and instead alternated between cursing at the officers and talking to them amiably.

He said: 'I don't want to hurt you... We need police, I know that's a hard job you've got. Please don't take what I'm saying as disrespectful.'

The officers occasionally laughed, too, though they carried large shields in front of them and had their guns drawn and aimed at the doorway.

Finally, Best opened the door a few inches still holding the knife and made a jerking movement toward the officers who were standing about six or seven feet away.

He had appeared to relax momentarily after an officer said: 'Don't do that.'

But Best raised the knife to his chest one again and said 'I'm going to stab him' while looking at the officers.

Best (right, pictured with his 20-year-old son, Dayvon) died around 20 minutes later at a nearby hospital

Best (right, pictured with his 20-year-old son, Dayvon) died around 20 minutes later at a nearby hospital

One of the officers, Asbury Park Police Sergeant Sean DeShader, then suddenly fired, knocking Best back into the apartment.

The officers rushed in to carry Best out and he died around 20 minutes later at a nearby hospital.

The attorney general's office said in a news release that investigators had met with members of Best's family on Tuesday to review the video recordings. 

It added that the findings will be presented to a grand jury for a determination about whether to bring any criminal charges once the investigation is complete.

DeShader currently is on administrative duty. 

The department declined comment on the contents of the video. 

Best's family and friends on Wednesday called on New Jersey authorities to bring criminal charges against one or more police officers involved in his fatal shooting.

Best's mother, Carol Sanders, (pictured) blinked back tears and dabbed at her eyes during a news conference across the street from police headquarters

Best's mother, Carol Sanders, blinked back tears and dabbed at her eyes during a news conference across the street from police headquarters 

His mother, Carol Sanders, blinked back tears and dabbed at her eyes during a news conference across the street from police headquarters.

She said: 'He didn't deserve it. He was talking to them and explaining his hurt, his feelings.

'They didn't have to take his life. They shot him in his chest.'

Randy Thompson, CEO of the advocacy group Help Not Handcuffs, blamed 'impatient, trigger-happy cops' for killing a disturbed man.

'Today we stand here to condemn the senseless and avoidable killing of another Black man,' he said.

'Who put an egg timer on this man's life, that after 60 minutes he would be killed?'

Best's family and friends on Wednesday called on New Jersey authorities to bring criminal charges against one or more police officers involved in his fatal shooting

Best's family and friends on Wednesday called on New Jersey authorities to bring criminal charges against one or more police officers involved in his fatal shooting 

In a separate case in Asbury Park in 2019, police officers shot and killed a 27-year-old man who they said was acting erratically and was wielding a pair of scissors. 

That investigation also is ongoing.

Under guidelines issued by the attorney general's office, an officer is justified in using deadly force if he or she 'reasonably believes such action is immediately necessary to protect the officer or another person from imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm.'

Officers should not use deadly force if they reasonably believe an alternative course of action will 'avert or eliminate an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm,' according to the guidelines.

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