Police shoot, critically injure Bronx man threatening his mother with knife, NYPD says
Police shot and critically wounded a man who was threatening his mother with a knife in their Bronx apartment late Thursday, according to NYPD officials.
Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera told reporters at the scene that officers went to a building on Mulford Avenue and Libby Place in Pelham Bay after receiving a 911 call around 11:20 p.m. about a man with a knife who was attempting to harm himself.
Rivera said the call was placed by a security guard who was working for the building and heard screaming coming from the family’s apartment.
When police arrived at the door, they were let in by a family member and saw a 34-year-old man holding his 61-year-old mother at knifepoint at the back of the apartment, according to Rivera.
“He had his left arm around his mother’s neck and a large kitchen knife in his right hand,” he said. “Our officers engaged the male in dialogue in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.”
Police spent two and a half minutes trying to get the man to drop the knife and free his mother, but he made “numerous threats” to kill her and moved the knife toward her neck, said Rivera.
At that point, one of the officers fired a round, striking the man in the head and allowing his mother to escape his grasp, according to the chief of patrol. The man was taken to Jacobi Hospital in critical condition and his mother was not injured, Rivera said.
Rivera said the officers involved were taken to a local hospital for evaluation and the entire incident was captured on their body-worn cameras.
He did not identify the man and said police were still investigating whether he had a history of past interactions with the NYPD.
The department’s force investigation division would review the incident, Rivera added.
It was the second time an NYPD officer shot someone during a confrontation this week, according to police.
So far this year, NYPD officers have fatally shot four people, including Wright, according to police data compiled by Gothamist.
This is a developing story based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.
