New York City police fatally shot a man wielding a sharp object who barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room on Thursday, Assistant Chief Charles Minch said.
The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in the Park Slope neighborhood, Minch said.
Officers encountered the man in a blood-spattered room on the eighth floor of the hospital, Minch said. He said the man barricaded himself in the room with two others: an older adult patient and a hospital security worker.
Minch said the man threatened to harm himself and others. He said officers repeatedly ordered the man to drop the sharp object and open the door for more than three minutes, but the man refused.
Minch said officers deployed Tasers to try to subdue the man, but were unsuccessful. He said officers then tried to kick the door open, but the man held it shut.
Minch said that after a second Taser attempt also failed, the man charged at officers with the object, prompting them to open fire. Minch did not identify the man, but said he was admitted as a patient the previous day.
Minch said the officers’ body cameras recorded the incident. “This situation could have turned out every differently” Minch said.
The department also posted a photo of a bloodied “self-made” weapon on social media, according to the report. Police said the security staffer was evaluated medically, but it was not clear what injuries the person may have sustained.
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