Investigators say NYPD Lieutenant Michael Pigott, of Sayville, committed suicide at around 6:00 a.m. Thursday in the aftermath of the Tasering and death of a man last week.
Pigott was a 21-year veteran of the NYPD and a member of the elite Emergency Services Unit. Police found his body in Floyd Bennett Field, a former airfield in Brooklyn, where he apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Pigott had been stripped of his gun and badge after ordering Officer Nicholas Marchesona to Taser Inman Morales, an emotionally disturbed Brooklyn man who climbed naked down a fire escape and threatened officers with a fluorescent light bulb. Morales fell from the ledge and suffered fatal head injuries after being incapacitated by the electric shock.
Following the incident, police determined that the use of the stun gun may have violated established guidelines and mandated a refresher course on dealing with similar situations. That training was held Monday at Floyd Bennett Field.
On Wednesday, Pigott apologized for Morales? death.
Pigott is survived by his wife and three children.