A Queens cop shot and wounded a man armed with a machete Monday morning while responding to a domestic dispute, according to NYPD.
NYPD officers from the 114th Precinct responded to a 911 call in Astoria about an “emotionally disturbed person armed with a weapon,” at approximately 9:48 a.m. on April 11, according to police.
The 911 caller told the operator that she had repeatedly asked the 27-year-old man, and the father of their three-year-old child, to leave the apartment, but he refused to do so. The man had allegedly taken a lot of pills and said he wanted to die, while holding a machete, according to sources.
Four officers responded to the scene, near 33rd Street and Broadway within minutes, explained Chief of Department Kenneth Corey.
“As officers were trying to remove people from the apartment, the male confronted them in a narrow hallway, holding the 911 caller’s mother,” said Corey during an afternoon press conference at the 114th Precinct stationhouse in Astoria. “After getting the older woman out of the apartment, the officers deployed a taser. The taser had no effect.”
One of the cops then fired three gunshots, striking the armed man in the groin area. Officers immediately requested an ambulance. According to Corey, EMT was on the scene within two minutes providing “life-saving measures.”
“The male was removed to Elmhurst Medical Center where he is currently in surgery but expected to recover,” Corey said. “Two officers were removed to a local hospital for medical evaluation. No one else was struck by gunfire and no other injuries were reported.”
Police have placed the man in custody, with charges pending the results of an investigation.
According to Corey, the large machete was recovered at the scene. Corey also said that the three-year-old child was present, and officers will be required to report this incident to the Administration for Children’s Services.
“There is a rather extensive domestic history between the 911 caller and the subject,” Corey said. “There have been multiple allegations of domestic assault, harassment, orders of protection have been in effect. Those orders have been violated on multiple occasions.”
The subject also has a prior arrest for assaulting a police officer, according to Corey.
The officers were wearing body cameras at the time of the confrontation and the footage will be reviewed as part of further investigation.
The information provided by the NYPD is preliminary and subject to change as an investigation continues.
Even so, the suspect’s girlfriend, Brianna Cortez, 24, told reporters Monday that they “plan on suing the Police Department.”
“What they did was unjust,” she said.
