NYPD officer shoots armed woman inside Queens home during response to stabbing, home invasion
NYPD officer shoots armed woman inside Queens home during response to stabbing, home invasion (Photos: NYPD, Crime Stoppers)
NEW YORK - An NYPD officer shot an armed woman inside a Queens home late Friday night after officers responding to a reported home invasion and stabbing encountered a chaotic scene with multiple injured people, according to authorities.
What Happened:
Officers arrived at a residence on 149th Street within the 113th Precinct at approximately 9:44 p.m. following multiple 911 calls reporting a break-in and a stabbing, NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said during a preliminary briefing. Dispatchers did not have a physical description of a suspect at the time.
Officers knocked on both the front and rear doors for several minutes without an answer. Soon after, two men appeared at a second-floor window. One man, who was visibly injured, told officers outside that his uncle had stabbed him and was downstairs, preventing him from coming down to unlock the door.
Officers called for emergency service units, technical assistance and hostage negotiators. Around the same time, a woman appeared at a third-floor window, said she could not get downstairs, and threw a set of keys out the window to the officers below.
The backstory:
Officers used the keys to unlock a rear door and then forced open a second door as they heard screaming coming from inside. Announcing themselves as police, officers moved up to the third floor, where they entered a small bedroom and found three people tangled together on the floor.
Rivera said one man was sitting on the floor, a second man was on top of him, and a woman was on top of both of them.
When officers ordered everyone to put their hands up, the three people separated. Both men complied, but the woman pointed across the room with her left hand while keeping her right hand down. Police said she then moved toward the officers holding a knife.
When she came within several feet, an officer fired a gun, striking her. An officer also deployed a Taser, and another officer recovered the knife.
What they're saying:
Officers carried the woman downstairs and provided emergency medical aid before she was transported to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition.
Investigators found that four people in total had suffered stab wounds: three men and the woman who was shot. One man was taken to Jamaica Hospital, while the other two were transported to North Shore University Hospital. Several officers were also taken to nearby hospitals for routine evaluation.
Detectives recovered two knives from the scene. The entire incident was captured on police body-worn cameras.
While investigators are still piecing together the events that took place before police arrived, Rivera said the people inside the home are known to each other. Police do not believe the woman who was shot was responsible for the home invasion or the initial stabbing that prompted the 911 calls.
The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is handling the ongoing investigation.
The Source: This article was written using preliminary information provided by the New York City Police Department.