Police tape off scene where man wielding knife was shot dead this morning. Photograph courtesy of Arthur T.
A knife-wielding man was shot and killed by an NYPD cop in Midtown early this morning.
The man was taken down by the police after refusing to drop his weapon.
The police were responding to a woman’s cry for help as she was being attacked by the man, one witness at the scene told reporters.
The woman, who sat on a nearby curb surrounded by arriving officers, had been severely slashed on the arm, it was first reported. However, police later confirmed that the woman was actually grazed from a stray bullet by the police. The police did not immediately release the woman’s identity pending an investigation, but she is believed to be an innocent bystander.
The attacker was struck multiple times by several officersr at the scene. aroundt 8:30 a.m. at the intersection of 49th Street and Eighth Avenue during the morning rush.
“I heard three shots. Boom, boom, boom. One after another. Everybody started running,” a witness at the scene told reporters.
The woman who was injured was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.
The attacker was not immediately identified nor was a motive for the attack. Police later realeased a statement that the man was a stagehand for “The Book of Mormon” show on Broadway., and he was 46-years-old.
The investigation is ongoing.
