A police officer shot an emotionally disturbed man in the chest who swung a metal pipe at them inside a Staten Island home on Friday night, police reported.
The 45-year-old man is listed in stable condition at Staten Island University North Hospital, officials said.
Police said the incident happened at about 10:36 p.m. on July 23 inside a second-floor apartment on Malden Place off Falcon Avenue in Oakwood.
Two officers assigned to the 122nd Precinct responded to the home after receiving a 911 call about an emotionally disturbed person, according to Deputy Chief Charles McEvoy, executive officer of Patrol Borough Staten Island.
Based on the preliminary investigation, police determined that the officers came to the apartment and spotted the 45-year-old man acting erratically. McEvoy said the officers talked with the man for several minutes, after which he was taken to an ambulance waiting outside.
But while EMS tended to the man, McEvoy said, he suddenly bolted from the ambulance and back inside the residence. Then things took a violent turn.
“The officers followed him inside, where he was able to pick up a 2 1/2 foot-long metal pipe, which he began to swing at the officers,” McEvoy said during an early morning press conference. “One officer discharged his service weapon, striking him in the torso.”
EMS units “immediately rendered first aid” to the disturbed man, the deputy chief reported. They then rushed him to Staten Island University North Hospital, where he underwent surgery.
Both officers involved in the shooting were also taken to Staten Island University North Hospital for a medical evaluation, McEvoy said. No injuries were reported.
The metal pipe that the man allegedly swung at the officers was recovered at the scene.
The case has been presented to the NYPD Force Investigation Division, which examines shootings involving police officers, for further inquiry.
