A violent confrontation inside a Brooklyn police precinct ended with a suspect fatally shot after slashing a female NYPD officer across the face with a butcher knife, police said.
The incident unfolded around 5:30 a.m. Sunday at the 73rd Precinct in Brownsville, when a man tried to slip in through an employee entrance. The officer instructed him to use the front door, but instead, he pulled out a large butcher knife and lunged at her, according to NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera.
The officer raised her arm to shield herself, suffering cuts to her head and ear in the struggle. Police sources told The New York Post the suspect appeared to be aiming for her throat.
As the attacker bolted from the station, another officer fired a Taser in an attempt to subdue him. The chase stretched two blocks before the man turned back toward officers near a Saratoga Avenue housing complex, still armed with the knife. At that point, police opened fire, striking him multiple times. He was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, praised the wounded officer for her quick reflexes under pressure. “She could have been killed here. This knife was coming right for her, but she was able to block it off,” Hendry said. “She showed incredible skill and bravery, and she helped save lives by stopping this individual.”
Rivera also commended the responding officers, highlighting the extraordinary risk of an armed assailant attacking inside a precinct. “This incident certainly could have turned out very differently,” he noted. “Every day, our officers face danger on the streets, but it’s another level of threat when someone comes directly into a precinct armed with a knife.”
The injured officer is being treated at a local hospital and is expected to recover. The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is now reviewing the shooting.
