Albany police: Use of force justified in officer-involved shooting

Ellazar Williams, 19, was shot by police on Elk Street, after police say he came at them with a knife.

On August 28, Williams was charged with menacing a police officer and criminal possession of a weapon with intent to use it.

Police say during a pursuit, Williams tripped, fell and dropped the knife. A detective says while Williams was rearming himself, he felt threatened and fired two shots in self-defense while he was standing about 10 feet away.

The police presentation to media included a timetable of events along with store surveillance photographs and video along with audio 911 tapes and a GPS map that indicated Williams and two others were asked to leave a Central Avenue convenience store, which they did.

When they returned a short time later, a store employee called 911 and reported someone they thought had a gun.

Three detectives in the vicinity heard the call and spotted someone who fit the description.

All three suspects ran away. That's when one detective chased Williams and cordoned him inside a fenced-in parking lot of a nearby school.

Williams is still at Albany Medical Center with a bullet lodged in his spine. He is paralyzed from the waist down.