A mentally ill man wielding a large knife was shot dead by police in Queens after he refused to drop the weapon and tried to lunge at them.
Several 911 callers reported a knife-wielding man acting erratically in the middle of an intersection in Astoria at around 6:20 a.m. Monday.
When police arrived, they surrounded the 61-year-old man and tried to contain him using verbal commands and Tasers, but he refused to drop the 14-inch-long knife.
NYPD Chief of Department John Chell said the man made a move toward the officers while still holding the knife, and they “were forced to defend themselves.”
“The guy was waving a knife. They tased him…But the Taser didn’t work…The guy was really threatening,” a witness said.
“They told him to drop the knife many times…I think for at least a good minute they were telling him to drop the knife.”
“He wouldn’t stop. He kept going toward them. He wasn’t running, but he was walking…He wouldn’t drop the knife. And then the last thing I saw before I ran away, he start charging at the cops…I saw the cops taking the guns out.”
The suspect, who had a bag of cans with him and appeared to be homeless, was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he died.
