Man Armed With Knife Shot By Private Security Guard In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are investigating after a private security guard shot a man who was waving a knife at people in the Bronx.
Witnesses describe the scene in Parkchester as chaotic.
"It was crazy," witness Earlson Elcock said.
It happened around 4:40 p.m. at Metropolitan and Wood avenues.
Police say the man was waving a knife around and threatening people who walked by.
A Parkchester public safety officer, which is private security for the nearby Parkchester development, arrived on scene first and told the suspect to drop the knife.
Police say the man refused and the security guard fired three rounds at the suspect, hitting him once on the backside.
"I heard a shot," a witness named Eileen said.
Neighbors and witnesses were rocked by the incident.
"You want to be able to walk down your street and not feel like your life's in danger, not feel like your community is in danger. You just want to be able to walk and be safe," Elcock said.
"I'm scared. I'm scared for my neighborhood. I'm scared for the neighborhood. Because I don't know what's going to come out from this," Eileen said.
Even though the suspect had a knife, some neighbors told CBS2's Nick Caloway they are upset the security guard used his gun.
"They should've got him some help. They shouldn't have shot him. They should've tased him, that's what they should've did," neighbor Cachet Kendrick said.
The suspect was taken to Jacobi Hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say no NYPD officers fired their weapons.
A policeman on the scene said that most of the Parkchester security guards do not carry firearms, but that some supervisors do.
CBS2's Nick Caloway contributed to this report.
