Police shoot man after knife confrontation in Bronx apartment stairwell, NYPD says

Police shot and wounded a man armed with a knife Sunday evening in a South Bronx apartment building after he approached NYPD officers responding to a 911 call, officials said.

Deputy Chief Rohan Griffith of the NYPD’s Force Investigation Division said the incident began around 5:40 p.m. on East 148th Street, when officers responding to a report of an attempted air conditioner theft encountered a 32-year-old man armed with a kitchen knife in a stairwell.

“As the officers are approaching the first-floor landing, a 32-year-old male was coming up the staircase from a side entrance with a kitchen knife in his right hand. He quickly approached the officers,” Griffith said.

One officer repeatedly commanded the man to stop and drop the knife, extending her hand to signal him to wait, Griffith said. Despite the warnings, the man continued advancing, prompting the officer to shoot him in the torso, the authorities said. The other officer did not fire.

The man was taken into custody and transported to Lincoln Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition on Sunday night. The two officers were also taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.

Police were investigating whether the man with the knife was the original 911 caller. After the call, he reportedly confronted a man in the building’s courtyard before re-entering and running into the officers, Griffith said.

The fast-moving encounter, captured on body-worn and security cameras, occurred in “an extremely tight stairwell” and lasted only seconds, police said. Officers rendered aid at the scene before EMS arrived.

The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division was reviewing the incident, including whether language barriers between the caller and police may have influenced the outcome. Authorities were also working to identify the man allegedly seen in the courtyard.

“This is very early in the investigation,” Griffith emphasized. “We are taking a deep dive.”

Police did not immediately release the man's identity on Sunday evening.

The shooting came just days after police said they shot and hospitalized a 50-year-old man in Canarsie after he allegedly raised a gun at officers while trying to outrun them.

This story is based on preliminary information from the NYPD and may be updated.