'They didn't have to kill him.' Mother of armed man killed in police-involved shooting says he didn't have to die

A man accused of shooting another man was shot and killed by police in Crown Heights.
News 12 spoke to that man’s mother who says she can’t understand why police had to kill him.
Motique Graves’ son Malik Tyquan Graves was shot and killed by police Tuesday night.
“That was my son,” says Graves. “They shot him about 18 or 19 times all over his body.”
 
Police say they got a ShotSpotter alert around 9:30 p.m. in the vicinity of Bergen Street and Rochester Avenue. Arriving officers say they found a 49-year-old man with a gunshot wound.
Witnesses apparently told the officers that the shooter had run down the street.
Investigators say that’s when they came upon Graves who was hiding behind a tree and had a gun. Police say both NYPD body camera and cellphone footage shows officers and witnesses telling him to drop the gun. They say he refused, and shots were fired.
Police say 10 officers opened fire, killing the 34-year-old.
His mother says she knows he had a fight with someone, but doesn’t believe the rest. She says what makes his death even more painful is that her mother just recently passed away.
“We just lost my mother, we didn’t even bury her yet,” says Graves. “It’s not right, it’s not right. They could’ve just shot him in the arm, they could have arrested him. I’d rather him be in jail then dead, but they didn’t have to kill him.”
Police tell News 12 this was in no way related to the protest or other unrest seen across the city.