On the afternoon of May 13, 2025, a domestic dispute call led to the death of 25-year-old Damon Louther, a male from Brooklyn, New York. The incident began when New York City Police Department officers responded to a 911 call from a woman reporting that the father of her children had made threats to kill her. The officers met the woman at an apartment building in the vicinity of Christopher Avenue and Pitkin Avenue in the Brownsville neighborhood.
Upon their arrival, the woman escorted
the officers to the apartment where they encountered Damon Louther. Inside the residence, a confrontation unfolded. Louther was holding a knife and, according to reports, advanced toward the officers. In response, one of the officers, identified as Jeffrey Cattani, deployed his Taser, but the device was ineffective in stopping Louther's advance.
As Louther continued to move towards them with the knife, the second officer, James Humpf, discharged his service weapon, firing two shots that struck Louther. He was subsequently transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The New York State Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation has launched an investigation into the incident, a standard procedure for deaths involving police officers. Body-worn camera footage from the officers was released to the public to increase transparency. An internal investigation by the NYPD is also underway to determine if the officers' use of force was justified.
