A Queens woman had wrestled a knife away from her brother after he allegedly “snapped” and slashed several relatives. But when police arrived at the chaotic Jamaica home, officers shot her, her family told The Post.
Shanequa Donovan, 38, called 911 Friday night after her brother, Rashaun Donovan, 48, allegedly began attacking family members inside the residence, according to her boyfriend, Edward Grant, who spoke Saturday.
When officers reached the home on 149th Street at about 9:45 p.m., Shanequa reportedly leaned out of a window and dropped her keys so they could get inside, police and relatives said.
By then, she had taken the knife from her brother. Grant said she was still holding it as he and Shanequa tried to restrain Rashaun in a cramped attic bedroom, where officers had followed the sound of screaming.
Police instructed everyone in the room to get down on the floor, Grant said.
“She was about to lie down on the ground to put the knife down and put her hands up,” Grant said. “I don’t think she realized she still had the knife in her hand.”
An officer then shouted, “She’s got a knife,” before opening fire, Grant, 48, recalled. “Pop! Pop!”
Officials said Shanequa was struck by three bullets.
Officers administered emergency treatment at the scene before taking her to Jacobi Medical Center. She was listed in stable condition, police said.
Authorities said the responding officers had not been given a description of the attacker before entering the home.
After identifying themselves, officers ordered all three people to raise their hands. The two men complied, officials said.
“The female pointed with her left hand at one of the males across the room, but did not raise her right hand,” NYPD Chief of Patrol Phil Rivera said during a news conference outside the home.
Rivera said Shanequa continued moving toward the officers while holding the knife. “She was within several feet of the officers when an officer discharged his firearm, striking her,” he said.
A second officer also fired a Taser during the confrontation.
Rivera said police had no reason to believe Shanequa was the person responsible for the stabbings.
One of the wounded men was taken to Jamaica Hospital, while two others were transported to North Shore University Hospital. All three were reported to be in stable condition.
Body-camera footage captured the shooting, which is now under review by the NYPD’s Force Investigation Division, officials said.
Grant said the evening began routinely. He had prepared tacos for Shanequa, her brother and two other relatives who were at the house.
“He just kind of snapped,” Grant said of Rashaun.
After hearing a commotion, Grant went downstairs to investigate. He said he then saw Shanequa’s brother holding two knives.
“He was in the living room,” Grant said. “He had the lights off, like waiting to kill us.”
Grant ran back upstairs to the attic bedroom where his girlfriend was and she called police, he said.
“She was frantic,” he recalled. “They probably couldn’t understand what she was saying.”
Karon Davis, 23, who was also in the home at the time of the attack and is the nephew of the alleged attacker, said it “happened out of nowhere.”
“I was immediately the first victim, he broke into my room,” Davis said. “He stabbed me in the shoulder.”
Rashaun Donovan then went up to the attic and broke down the door to get inside, he said. Shanequa pepper-sprayed him.
“She’s screaming ‘He’s going crazy,’” Grant recalled. “He stabbed me. I just started defending myself and my girlfriend. Survival mode.”
Donovan may have lost it because he was supposed to go to a martial arts event in Spain with his parents but missed the flight, Davis said. The couple owns two dojos where Donovan works.
“He was gonna show off for Team USA and all this stuff,” Davis said. “But due to that, I think it was overwhelming pressure…it got to his mental state, and … it just broke him down.”
