Sept. 7 (UPI) — Police in New York City fatally shot a knife-wielding man who slashed an officer in the face after entering a police precinct early Sunday, authorities said.
The suspect, who was not identified, was shot multiple times by several officers in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn and pronounced dead at a local hospital, authorities said.
Chief of Patrol Phillip Rivera of the New York Police Department told reporters during a press conference that the suspect entered the front of the 73rd Precinct station house at about 5:24 a.m. EDT Sunday, but left shortly after attempting to enter a locked door without interacting with any police officers.
The suspect then went to the back of the building, which is restricted to NYPD personnel, and entered via an unlocked door, he said.
There, he was confronted by an officer who told the suspect that if he needed assistance, he needed to use the front door.
“Then he took out a large butcher knife and began attacking the officer,” Rivera said.
The officer sustained a slash wound to the face, Rivera said, adding that she was able to fight off her assailant, who then ran out of the precinct.
Rivera said an officer shot the suspect with a Taser, but to little effect, leading the police on a foot chase to Park Place and Saratoga Avenue, where he lunged at a pursuing officer with the 14-inch knife.
“Several officers discharged their firearms and the male was struck numerous times,” he said.
The police-involved shooting is under investigation.
The injured officer sustained superficial wounds to the face and was expected to be discharged from the hospital soon, he said.
“This incident certainly could have turned out very differently,” he said. “An individual walked into a known NYPD building with a large knife and attacked one of our officers. Every day our officers put on these uniforms they encounter dangerous situations out in the street, but it’s another kind of danger when someone comes directly into the precinct armed with a knife and attacks our officers.”