A state appeals court has ruled that qualified immunity applied to the decision-making of a police officer who, according to court records, took to the ground an arguably emotionally disturbed man outside a Manhattan supermarket, moments before the man then brandished a knife and charged forward as two other officers shot and killed him.

The ruling from an Appellate Division, First Department panel zeroed in on the actions of New York City police officer Kevin Gleason, one of the defendants named in a 2017 wrongful death, assault and battery lawsuit lodged by the man's brother, who became the administrator of his estate.