A man shot and killed by NYPD officers in Staten Island on Sunday threatened police with this knife. Photo Credit: NYPD
The NYPD said that two of its police officers shot and killed an intoxicated Staten Island man Sunday night who said "shoot me" while brandishing a 14-inch knife, in an encounter that left an officer wounded.
Police Commissioner James O'Neill said in a statement that one of the officers first struck the man by firing a stun gun, but "the Taser did not stop the threat" as the man "made a move towards them. Also struck in the exchange was one of our officers." The wounded officer is expected to live.
The NYPD did not say whether the knife-wielding man also had a gun.
"We know he had a knife — that's for sure," said Sgt. Brendan Ryan, an NYPD spokesman. "But the rest of it's still part of the investigation."
O'Neill said the encounter unfolded in "very tight quarters."
"It happened quickly," he said.
The officer was in stable condition at Staten Island University Hospital, North, O'Neill said. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan) said, "It looks like he's going to have a full recovery."
Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said the encounter, on Bridge Court, was recorded on the two officers' body-worn cameras.
"You can see the male attempting to get past who we believe is his wife and coming at the officers," Shea said at a news conference around 2 a.m. "You hear multiple times, 'shoot me, shoot me, shoot me.' "
The call that brought the officers to the home was related to domestic violence with an intoxicated person, O'Neill said. The man, whose name was not immediately made public, answered the door in an alleyway with the knife at about 9:50 p.m., O'Neill said.
"This individual was brandishing a long blade as our officers moved in to de-escalate the situation, repeatedly ordering the individual" to disarm, O'Neill said.
Shea said the Taser struck the man, but, "Unfortunately, it did not cause him to cease his attack. In the ensuing shots — we have up to 10 to 12 shots — at this time, it's preliminary, that were fired with multiple striking the victim, causing his demise. Also in this exchange of gunfire we had one officer who was struck."
Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to visit the wounded officer on Monday.
Of the two officers, O'Neill said, the encounter was "a testament to how their training and focus is to de-escalate violence."
Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association labor union, said: "Here's a situation where the police officers acted calmly amongst that chaos. It could have ended worse."