A man brandishing a 13-inch kitchen knife was shot by police outside a grocery store, the New York Police Department reported.
“This incident serves as a stark reminder of the perils our officers face whenever they don their uniforms. Today was no exception,” stated Inspector Andrew Natiw, the executive officer of the Patrol Bureau of Manhattan North, during a press briefing held Monday morning.
The NYPD detailed that the incident unfolded at 1:15 a.m. on Monday when a 53-year-old man engaged in a verbal altercation with another individual inside City Fresh Market located at East 120th Street and Third Avenue.
Police reported that the man became aggressive and disruptive, necessitating physical removal by several employees. Not long after, he returned to the store, this time wielding a large kitchen knife, and began banging on the store’s window.
At around 1:44 a.m., officers from the 25th Precinct arrived at the scene on 120th Street and 3rd Avenue in response to a report of a police-involved shooting. Surveillance footage from a nearby supermarket captured the suspect threatening employees with the knife before engaging with the police.
WATCH: Man with knife intimidates grocery store staff
Surveillance video captured the man wielding a 13-inch knife, yelling, pressing against the store’s glass, police said.
Employees locked the door and called 911 just after 1:30 a.m.
When officers arrived, they told the man to drop the knife multiple times, but he “quickly advanced toward the officers with the knife extended out.”
Police shot a 53-year-old man armed with a 13-inch knife in East Harlem early Monday. (NYPD NEWS)
Authorities said that one of the officers shot the suspect and immediately requested EMS and rendered aid to the 53-year-old suspect.
The suspect, they said, was removed to Harlem Hospital where he went into surgery, and is in critical but stable condition.
Police recovered a 13-inch kitchen knife outside an East Harlem grocery store after they say a man charged officers with it. (WNYW)
The NYPD declined to provide a name of the suspect. Police said the man has a history of prior arrests and was known to law enforcement.
Investigators recovered approximately seven shell casings at the scene. The incident remains under investigation.
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