Police Brutality / Individual record
Miguel Espinal
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Miguel Espinal in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2015-12-08 in Yonkers, NY. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-320
- Incident date
- December 8, 2015
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Yonkers, NY
- Agency
- New York Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 36
What happened
Miguel Espinal, 36, was killed by a New York Police Department officer in Yonkers on December 8, 2015, following a pursuit that began with a traffic stop in the Bronx. Police reported attempting to stop Espinal over tinted windows; the vehicle fled and crashed on the Saw Mill River Parkway. Espinal ran into a wooded park, where an officer shot him during a struggle. Authorities initially said no gun was recovered from Espinal. His death was referred to the New York Attorney General's special prosecutor under the state's investigation policy for certain police-involved deaths. The attorney general published a case-specific investigative report, providing a stronger source than early police statements. The traffic infraction, pursuit, physical struggle and question of necessity of force must be examined distinctly.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1067
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- unarmed
- Flee status (source)
- foot
- Agency IDs (source)
- 298
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset