NYPD officers shoot dead ‘crazed’ knifeman and injure an innocent female bystander in Midtown Manhattan during morning rush hour.
A man was shot dead by police in New York City on Wednesday morning.
The 46-year-old man was walking through the city's famed Broadway district when he pulled out an 8-inch blade and threatened officers during the busy morning commute.
Officers instructed the man to put down the weapon and when he did not he was shot at nine times just feet away from the theater that houses the popular musical Book of Mormon.
An innocent bystander, described as a 46-year-old female, was also hit by one of the officer's bullets and taken to Bellvue Hospital.
Anthony Tessitore, who was just feet away from the scene of the shooting, said that the officer who shot the man became upset after the incident.
'The cop started crying immediately. You could tell he was remorseful for what he had done,' he told DNA Info.
Photos from the scene show the man lying face down on the pavement with blood coming from his head.
The man, who has not yet be identified, was wearing a backpack and cap with his hands in cuffs, and just a few blocks away from Times Square.
Police were called to the scene after a report that the man was being belligerent inside the nearby Food Emporium as he tried to buy beer at 8:20am.
'He was swearing at the people in the store, towards the workers,' said NYPD Chief of Department James O’Neill during a press conference shortly after the incident occurred on Wednesday.
When they arrived there was a brief skirmish during which time the man fell to the ground, and when he stood back up he was holding the large knife.
He then went after three of the officers and that is when they opened fire.
Police said there was no relation between the man who was killed and the female who suffered a graze wound.
An officer was also hurt during the skirmish but it is not clear at this time how he suffered his injuries.
The scene was filled with police roughly 10 minutes after the shooting, and both Eighth Avenue and 49th Street were shut down to cars and buses.
Police are still investigating the scene and trying to piece together what happened in the moments before the fatal shooting.
NYPD shot a man dead in Manhattan on Wednesday morning.
The man, 46, was shot after he pulled a knife on officers and began to approach them during the busy morning commute.
He had been inside a nearby market and was belligerent with workers just before the shooting as he tried to buy beer.
A 46-year-old woman was also injured at the scene when she was hit by a stray police bullet.
The incident happened around 8:30am in the city's famed Broadway district, just blocks away from Times Square.
A bystander said that the officer who shot the man dead broke down in tears after the incident.
