Police fatally shot a man who allegedly attempted to slit his stepmother’s throat Saturday in the Bronx, authorities said.
Two New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers responded to an emergency call at about 11:15 a.m. to a cramped 13th-floor apartment in Bedford Park, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell stated in a press conference. There they reportedly found a 19-year-old woman with slash wounds on her face screaming and a 30-year-old man allegedly holding his 45-year-old stepmother, reportedly bleeding, in a front headlock with a large carving knife to her throat, according to Chell. The suspect allegedly said he was going to kill his entire family.
The officers reportedly issued numerous commands for the suspect to drop the knife. The suspect, after reportedly being shot in the head by an officer, was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
“Every day in the city, our cops respond to calls for mostly disturbed people. And it’s a tough job for our cops to handle these. And they always look for the best outcome for the family and the emotionally disturbed person,” Chell said.
Chell praised the officers, both of whom he said had a little over two years on the job, for their composure. (RELATED: Man Stabbed Woman, Abandoned Her And 3 Children In House Fire, Police Say)
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Police did not know what caused the conflict but there was a history of domestic violence in the apartment, Chell said. The husband of the 45-year-old woman, however, had called 911 and reported that the suspect had mental health and substance abuse issues and appeared to be hallucinating, he told the New York Post.
“I was standing next to the officer. The officer told him three times to [put] down the knife … He said, ‘Either kill me or I’ll kill her,” he told the outlet.
The husband reportedly married the victim in November; the 19-year-old woman was reportedly the suspect’s girlfriend.
“The cops are not at fault on this one,” the husband added. “It was a righteous shooting … The cops did everything they were supposed to do.”