Police shoot man who held mother at knifepoint in the Bronx, NYPD says
A man was shot by police late Thursday night in the Bronx after the NYPD says he threatened his mother with a knife.
Police said a security guard called 911 after hearing screams from the family's apartment in the Hazel Towers on Mulford Avenue in Pelham Bay.
Officers arrived around 11:20 p.m. and a family member let officers inside the apartment, where they allegedly found the 34-year-old man with his left arm around his 61-year-old mother's neck and a large kitchen knife in his right hand, police said.
"Our officers engaged the male in dialog and attempted to de-escalate the situation. For over two and a half minutes, our officers attempted to get the male to put the knife down and free his mother," NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said on the scene.
Police said the man threatened his mother while moving the knife toward her neck.
"As our officers were attempting this, the male made numerous threats to kill his mother, all while he was still holding her with his arm around her neck and holding the knife," said Rivera. "Numerous times during this interaction, the male moved the knife towards his mother's neck."
Police said their attempts to get him to drop the knife were unsuccessful, and an officer ended up firing one round, striking the man and freeing his mother.
The suspect was rushed to Jacobi Hospital where he remains in critical condition. His mother was not injured.
Police said the entire incident was captured on body-worn cameras and will be handled by the Force Investigation Division. They also released a photo of the knife recovered from the scene.
Crime scene investigators have since finished processing the apartment. Neighbors are in disbelief.
"That's terrible. Who puts a knife to their mom's throat? She raised you," one neighbor said.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via their website.
