Leaders and residents in Bedford-Stuyvesant are questioning the circumstances that led to the fatal, police-involved shooting of a 20-year-old man.

City councilmembers Charles Barron and Darlene Mealy joined family members and friends of Darryl Battle at a news conference Sunday to denounce what they claim was police misconduct.

"We have a lot of questions that we're raising," says Barron. "This man should still be alive."

Residents say NYPD officers were asked by Battle to come by his basement apartment at 650 Decatur St. Saturday to speak about a check scam investigation. During questioning, police say Battle pulled out an 11-inch knife and began advancing toward them. One of the detectives then shot him in the chest.

Battle was taken to Kings County Hospital where he later died.

"They were wrong to come into the house of freewill and shoot a man that has no violent tendencies," says Sh'Shonda Monique Smith, a niece of Battle?s.

The Bedford-Stuyvesant community is calling on Gov. David Paterson to conduct an independent investigation to determine what exactly happened in the apartment.