Police Shoot Knife-Wielding Man Dead Following Stabbing At Homeless Facility In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An investigation was underway late Monday after a knife-wielding man who had stabbed two female security guards was killed in a police-involved shooting at a homeless facility in the Bronx.
Investigators say officers in the East Tremont section responded to 1974 Hughes Avenue around 8 p.m. for reports of an assault.
When they arrived, police say two officers encountered a male resident in the lobby of the Hughes House -- part of the Urban Pathways network of homeless housing facilities -- armed with a five-inch long steak knife he had already used to stab the women.
The officers gave verbal commands for the man to drop the knife more than twenty times, according to NYPD Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan.
Instead, police say the man lunged towards the officers with the knife in his hand.
Neighbor Charleton Lucas said he was just about to walk outside.
"I was getting off the elevator, I heard people arguing, then all of a sudden I heard gunshots," he told CBS2's Tony Aiello.
Police say both officers discharged their service weapons, striking the suspect multiple times. He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to police.
Much of the incident was caught on camera; the stabbing of the guards by surveillance cameras in the lobby, and the shooting of the suspect by the officers' body cameras.
Officers discovered the women suffering from multiple stab wounds. They were rushed to St. Barnabas but were expected to fully recover.
Authorities say neither of the officers were injured in the encounter.
Many in the neighborhood say the dead suspect is an older man who panhandled and had a drinking problem, but they question they use of deadly force.
"Maybe he snapped," one woman said. "He did not seem like a harmful person to me."
"He's an old guy," one man said. "You can push him with one finger, no need to shoot the guy at all."
CBS2 confirmed the identity of the deceased suspect as 67-year-old Cornell Lockhart. In August, the 48th Precinct sent out a tweet asking for help locating him when he was briefly reported missing.
A police investigation and a review by the Bronx District Attorney's office is underway.
