Police shot and critically injured a knife-wielding man in East Harlem who allegedly terrorized store workers early on Monday morning, authorities said.
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Police shot and critically injured a knife-wielding man in East Harlem who allegedly terrorized store workers early on Monday morning, authorities said.
According to NYPD Inspector Andrew Natiw of Patrol Borough Manhattan North, officers from the 25th Precinct were called to a City Fresh Supermarket on East 120th Street and 3rd Avenue at around 1:36 a.m. on April 6.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police learned that the 53-year-old man had visited the supermarket about 15 minutes earlier and had become involved in a verbal dispute with a worker.
The man was subsequently ejected from the premises, Natiw explained, but returned about 15 minutes later in a fit of rage — holding a knife and banging on the store windows. Frightened workers inside the shop locked themselves inside and called police for assistance.
“He had a large kitchen knife in his hand and was banging on the exterior glass of the window with the knife,” Natiw said. “Store employees said they locked the door to the store so that the male could not reenter.”
When officers arrived at the scene, the inspector said, they were immediately confronted by the suspect, who had the knife pointed toward them.
“The officers gave multiple verbal commands to drop the knife and attempted to create physical distance between himself and the subject,” Natiw said. “The subject quickly advanced, pulled the officers with the knife extended out, the subject failed to comply with these verbal commands, and got within close proximity of the officers with the knife extended out when one of the officers discharged the firearm.”
The man was shot in the body, though police did not say exactly where he had been hit. EMS rushed him to Harlem Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery; he is listed in critical but stable condition.
Police say they recovered the knife he allegedly held, approximately 13 inches long, from the scene.
Charges are pending the results of the ongoing investigation. The NYPD Force Investigation Division, which examines all police-involved shootings, has launched an inquiry.
