NYPD officers shoot, kill armed man who entered Brooklyn precinct, slashed cop

NYPD officers shot and killed a man in Brooklyn early Sunday morning after police say he walked into a precinct and slashed an officer in the face with a knife.

Just before 5:30 a.m., the man, whom police have not identified, walked into the NYPD’s 73rd Precinct in Brownsville and tried to open a locked door, police said.

“He did not verbally engage with anyone and left a few seconds later,” NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said at a news conference Sunday.

The man then walked around the block and re-entered the precinct from the back door, where he was met by an officer.

“He then took out a large butcher knife and began attacking the officer,” slashing her in the face before she fought him off, Rivera said.

The man then ran out of the precinct, and an officer attempted to shock him with a Taser, Rivera said. The Taser did not work, as they have failed roughly 40% of the time since the NYPD began issuing them nearly a decade ago.

A group of officers chased the man for several blocks, instructing him to drop the knife, Rivera said, “But he did not comply.”

On Saratoga Avenue in Brownsville, between Eastern Parkway and Park Place, the man lunged at an officer with the knife extended, Rivera said. Several officers shot at the man, striking him “several times.”

He was pronounced dead at Brookdale University Hospital. The officer who was attacked at the precinct was “recovering with good spirits” at a hospital, Rivera said. Police did not identify her.

Patrick Hendry, president of the NYPD’s largest police union, said even after being slashed in the face, the officer helped chase the man down.

“Despite being injured, our sister pursued this individual along with her fellow police officers, and they stopped the threat before anyone else was hurt,” Hendry wrote in a statement Sunday. 

“Thank God our sister is on the road to recovery, but this was a clear targeted attack on New York City police officers,” he wrote. 

The NYPD Force Investigation Division is reviewing the shooting, which was captured by nearby cameras and police body-worn cameras, according to Rivera.

“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 a precinct armed with a knife and attacks our officers,” Rivera said.