The NYPD has reported that police shot a man who seemed to hallucinate inside a Queens home after lunging at them with a knife.
What We Know:
- Officials conducted a press conference at the scene Friday evening and stated it was the second time officers had arrived at the home, on 64th Street near 55th Avenue, that day and the third time this week regarding calls about the same man. Police responded to the home earlier Friday at around 10:50 a.m. concerning the same man. They also responded on Jan. 6.
- The man, 41, mentioned to officers Friday morning that he had been doing crystal methamphetamine and was “contemplating suicide,” NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said. The man, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital right after due to his hallucinations but was later released. That same evening, a family member informed that the man was armed with a knife and damaging the basement, Monahan said.
- Responding officers entered the home and went down a “narrow staircase” to the basement, where they encountered the man and a family member. Monahan stated four officers spent around 10 minutes trying to persuade the man to go to the hospital, but “he abruptly pulled out a large knife and shouted, “I’m not going back to the hospital.”
- He then jumped at an officer standing on the staircase, Monahan said, at which point one officer used a taser on him while “almost simultaneously” another officer shot the man twice. According to NYPD police, he was taken to a local hospital where he was said to be in critical condition late Friday. A neighbor stated he saw the police come rushing to the scene, and next saw a man transferred out on a stretcher.
No officers were hurt. They were wearing their body cameras that had been activated, Monahan said.
