Officer stabbed, suspect killed in police-involved shooting in Bay Shore
BAY SHORE, N.Y. -- A 33-year-old suspect in a domestic dispute was shot and killed by Suffolk County police Saturday after he reportedly tried to stab an officer to death.
Streets surrounding Udall Road were closed Saturday morning as the Bay Shore neighborhood turned into a crime scene.
Zenen Lopez was cleaning snow off his car when he heard gunshots.
"I heard over six because it was pop, pop, pop, pop, pop," he said.
He then saw an officer on the snow applying chest compressions to the man police shot -- 33-year-old Taiquell Woodson. He says another officer had a bloodied arm after police say Woodson stabbed him multiple times.
"I just seen blood, it was dripping on the snow ... They were just frantic," Lopez said.
"This is a justified shooting. Without the decisive actions of these officers, one of our officers would've been killed today," Suffolk Police Commissioner Robert Waring said.
Police say they shot Woodson just after 9 a.m. when responding to a call from his wife saying he was acting violently. When at the front door, police say Woodson came at an officer with a large knife.
"The officer retreated and fell into the snow on the front yard. Woodson jumps on top of him with a knife and he starts stabbing the officer, clearly attempting to kill him," Waring said.
Police say the officer tried to use his taser, which failed. That's when another officer shot Woodson, who died at the hospital.
The officer who was stabbed was bleeding so much his partners applied a tourniquet. He was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital.
Dr. James Vosswinkel, who treated him, says the officer's injuries are non-life-threatening.
"We're hopeful for a full recovery. There is obviously a possibility with the concern for nerve damage that he may need surgery in the future," Vosswinkel said.
Police say Woodson's wife and a 1-year-old were unharmed.
The other officers were taken to the hospital for observation.
The attorney general's office is also investigating the shooting.