Police shot and killed a man allegedly armed with a knife at a Bronx home after he slashed a couple of family members Saturday morning, according to NYPD officials.
Two officers responded to a 911 call around 11 a.m. at a Creston Avenue apartment building in the Bedford Park neighborhood for a man reportedly armed with a knife. Once they reached the 13th floor, the cops were met by a family member who made the 911 call, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell explained at a press conference.
The police officers moved toward the family’s apartment when a 19-year-old woman came running out, screaming, with a face wound. Chell said the officers, each with about two years of on-the-job experience, entered the apartment and found a man holding his mother in a headlock and a knife to her throat.
The woman, 45, already had an injury and was visibly bleeding, police said. Chell said the officers instructed the man to lower the “large carving knife” before firing a shot that struck him in the head.
He was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.
The “hectic situation,” as Chell described the morning incident, was caught entirely on body-worn camera. He did not provide any timeline on when that would be made available to the public. He also described the man as “emotionally disturbed.”
“Today was a complete tragedy during this holiday season,” Chell said at the press conference. “Thank god our cops got here quickly and saved this family from further harm.”
Police said the man armed with the knife had made threats to hurt himself and his family members Saturday morning. What triggered the episode was not yet clear, and Chell said it was too early to speculate.
The man, 30, lived in the two-bedroom apartment with family members. Police said they did not have any documented history of mental health report related to the man, but the apartment did have a history of domestic violence calls.
