An 11-year-old girl called 911 just after 10 a.m. and said her uncle was stabbing her and her siblings, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. The girl did not know her address, but the 911 call center used location technology to pinpoint where the call came from, she added.
When officers arrived at the home on 84th Street in Bensonhurst, an uninjured child led them inside the vestibule, according to Tisch.
"At that point, [the officers] heard screams coming from behind the door to their left and immediately began forcing their way into the apartment," Tisch said during a press conference at the scene. "They encountered a man standing near the entrance holding a large meat cleaver covered in blood."
Officers ordered the man to drop the cleaver, but he refused and moved toward them, she said.
"Two officers discharged their firearms, firing seven total rounds between them and striking the subject, ending the threat," Tisch said. "This encounter is captured in bodycam video."
Police identified the suspect as a 49-year-old man with a history of mental illness. His relationship to the girls was under investigation.
