Police fatally shoot man in Astoria after he approached officers with knife, NYPD says

Police shot and killed a 61-year-old man on a Queens street early Monday after he refused commands to drop a knife and moved toward officers with it, according to NYPD officials.

The shooting happened just before 6:30 a.m. near the intersection of 30th Avenue and 31st Street in Astoria, officials said.

NYPD Chief of Department John Chell said at a press conference that three people had called 911 about the man, saying he was acting erratically. Some of the callers said they thought he was going to stab someone, according to Chell.

Police responded to the intersection, which features the entrance to the elevated 30th Avenue subway station on the N and W lines, and confronted the man, Chell said. He said the man was holding a 14-inch knife, appeared to be “in mental distress” and did not obey officers’ orders to release the knife.

The officers deployed multiple tasers when the man advanced toward them, but this did not subdue him, according to Chell. The chief of department said the officers were “forced to defend themselves” and fired multiple shots at the man.

Police attempted lifesaving measures at the scene, but the man died at a local hospital, Chell said, adding that the officers were taken to hospitals for tinnitus treatment.

The NYPD did not immediately release the man’s name as they worked to notify his family. Chell said the man was Asian and had two documented “incidents of mental disorder with the NYPD,” but would not provide further details.

Detectives and officers at the scene Monday morning scoured the sidewalk near a Trade Fair supermarket for evidence. A plastic white shopping bag lay on the ground next to a pool of blood.

Oumar Cisse, a supervisor at the supermarket, said his security workers knew the man to be someone who collected bottles in the area.

“I saw the knife, it was right there by the door,” he said. “It was a pretty big knife … like a butcher knife, more than 12 inches.”

The store’s manager, Andre Johnson, said he heard at least six shots in quick succession Monday, and then saw police surround the man. He lamented the prevalence of what he described as mental health crises in the neighborhood.

“They need help,” he said, referring to people in apparent distress. “They come in here, they start screaming and yelling, they fight for the bottle machine.”

Monday’s shooting was the third time that NYPD officers have shot and killed someone so far this year, according to Gothamist’s analysis of police data. NYPD officers have shot and injured at least three other people so far in 2025, including a man who allegedly stabbed four girls in Brooklyn last week. Police fatally shot at least 12 people citywide last year, according to the analysis.

The MTA said Q102 buses were being detoured in both directions Monday while police investigated the scene.

This is a developing story based on preliminary information from police and has been updated.