Family of man killed by NYPD at Methodist Hospital wants answers, says no history of mental illness

The family of a former cop and FDNY lieutenant shot dead by NYPD officers during a bloody standoff at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital is looking for answers, saying he checked in two days before the standoff because he thought he was having a stroke and that he had no history of mental illness.

Michael Lynch, 62, went to New York Presbyterian-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital on Wednesday with his wife, worried about pressure in his head and tingling in his hands, his distraught spouse told the Daily News.

On Thursday, Lynch barricaded himself in an eighth-floor room at the hospital, cutting himself and taking an elderly man and a hospital security guard hostage, police said. After a minutes-long standoff in which Lynch refused “dozens” of commands to drop a broken piece of porcelain, and repeated efforts by cops to push into the room, officers shot and killed Lynch, police said.

“Shocked. Totally shocked. Everybody can’t put their finger around this,” Lynch’s wife, Dolores Lynch, told The News.

“Like, what is happening here?”

She recalled how the tragic events unfolded, telling the News she took him to the hospital by cab Wednesday after waking her up in the middle of the night with bad numbness and head pain.

“He was admitted. They were doing what they usually do when someone is admitted. Somewhere between being admitted and this incident, something happened. What? We don’t know,” said the family’s lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery.

Lynch’s wife said he was given an MRI on Thursday, and the family was hoping he’d be discharged soon after.  She thought he had simply gone to use the bathroom before the bloody standoff, she said. Montgomery said he’ll be looking for medical records, autopsy results and toxicology reports to shed some light on what happened.

But the family was clear about the fact that Lynch had no psychiatric problems.

“He’s a retired policeman. Retired fire department. Retired bus driver. Father. Husband. From all accounts a great community member who had some medical issues that he thought he was having a stroke,” Montgomery said. “This is not someone who can be painted as some maniacal person of violence or history or even any history of mental health.”

Lynch served as an NYPD officer until the 1990s, when he was accepted into the FDNY, his family said. He rose to the rank of lieutenant, worked on the Sept. 11 recovery effort, and ultimately retired in 2008.

“My father was an honorable, caring family man, loved by everyone he knew. Losing him is impossible to comprehend. He went to a place of healing, seeking help, and never came home. It’s devastating beyond words,” his daughter, Dr. Bionqua S. Lynch Johnson, said.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, addressing the incident, referred to Lynch as “emotionally disturbed” in a post on X.com Friday.

Lynch’s family disputed other, early accounts suggesting he might have had a history of emotional disturbance. An NYPD source said Sunday that police had no interactions with him as an emotionally disturbed person until the hospital standoff.

“We’re referring questions to NYPD. Due to patient privacy, we cannot provide additional details,” the hospital said Sunday.

When cops arrived at the scene at about 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Park Slope hospital, they found the door, walls and floor around the room drenched in blood, police said.

Lynch showed the bloody weapon, and for more than three minutes “the officers stood outside the door and issued dozens of verbal commands to the subject to drop the weapon,” said NYPD Assistant Chief Charlie Minch, the commanding officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South.

“The subject refused to drop the weapon and forcefully tried to close the door to the room multiple times.”

The officers fired a taser and a gun, but didn’t hit Lynch, and he again tried to close the door to prevent the cops from getting in, Minch said.

“For the next four minutes officers again tried to kick the door open and issued many verbal commands to the subject to drop the weapon,” Minch said. “(He) then advanced towards the officers again, still with the weapon in his hand. Officers again deployed Tasers but those deployments were not effective. Officers then discharged their weapons and the subject was struck.”

Montgomery wonders if it could have been handled differently.

“He’s a human being. He has no history of mental health — and even beyond that, just because you have a history of mental health doesn’t mean you should die in a hail of bullets either,” he said.

Lynch was born in London, and came to the U.S. at age 6, his wife said. She’s been with him since 1989, and they have two adult children and three grandchildren together.

“If I was to marry him again, I would marry him a hundred times over,” she said. “Wonderful husband, wonderful father, grandfather, friend to the community. He helps people, carries their bags, clean the snow. Neighbors they all know him. He’s like the mayor of the block.”

His son, Michael Fitzgerald Lynch Jr., recalled his patience when spending time with his 6-year-old autistic grandson.

“My dad was a very decorated man. He wore many hats and many shoes and he’s lead me to be a great person with multiple talents,” he said. “He’s guided me to be very driven and to be very focused and to be a provider.”

The newest addition to Lynch’s family came with the birth of his granddaughter on Christmas Eve.

“I’m heartbroken that my father didn’t get to meet his newest grandchild,” Lynch Johnson said. “We had plans for him to come visit us later this month and now that will never happen. He was a phenomenal grandfather…. He never missed a beat when it came to family. He was always there for every holiday, every birthday, every major milestone.”

She added, “His presence, charisma and humor made every family gathering that much more special. He was a one of kind man. My dad was my hero.”

With Thomas Tracy and Emma Seiwell