Officials: 1 dead in midtown Manhattan police shooting
NEW YORK -- One person died and another was wounded after a police shooting during morning rush hour Wednesday in a busy, tourist-filled area of midtown Manhattan.
The encounter happened around 8:30 a.m., just a few hundred feet from the Broadway theaters showing "Wicked" and "The Book of Mormon."
Police said the suspect had a knife and apparently lunged at an officer before the officer fired, but they were still investigating. Another woman was also struck in the arm and was expected to survive, according to a preliminary report. It's not clear how many shots the officer fired.
NYPD Chief of Department James O'Neill said the incident began at around 8:20 a.m. when the man allegedly "became aggressive and belligerent" while trying to buy beer at a supermarket.
"He was swearing at the people in the store, swearing at the workers in the store," O'Neill said.
An officer soon confronted the suspect and a struggle began, O'Neill said.
"They fell to the ground outside the store. As the suspect got back on his feet, he displayed an eight-inch knife and approached the officer and two other officers who were coming to his assistance," O'Neill said. "The officers ordered the suspect to drop the knife and he continued to approach them with the knife in his hand."
That's when an officer and a sergeant opened fire, shooting nine times, killing the suspect and wounding a female tourist.
Sharona Shriver, who lives in an apartment building near the crime scene, said she was doing her makeup when she heard the shots.
"He was face down with blood pouring out of his head. Looked like it was coming out of his head or upper body," she said. "A trail of blood."
Her roommate Tamar Mendelson said she heard about six shots, and when she looked out the window she saw the officer crying.