Police Shoot Machete-Wielding Man In Astoria Apartment, NYPD Says

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A police officer shot a man who was threatening his family with a machete inside their Astoria apartment Monday morning, according to the NYPD.

Just before 10 a.m., a woman called 911 to report the domestic dispute inside their home at 31-63 33rd St., just north of Broadway. She said she had asked the 27-year-old man — the father of her child — to leave their home, but he refused, according to NYPD officials.

She then told a 911 dispatcher that the man had "taken a lot of pills, wanted to die, and was holding a machete in his hand," NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey told reporters hours later.

Within minutes, four police officers arrived at the apartment, where they learned the man was still holding the machete, according to police.

As officers tried to escort family members out of the apartment, the man appeared in a narrow hallway, holding the machete and the mother of the woman who first called 911, according to police.

Officers managed to get the older woman out of the apartment and then used a taser on the man, "to no effect," Corey said. At that point, one officer fired three rounds at the man, hitting him in the groin area.

Police requested an ambulance, put the man in custody and then allowed paramedics to care for him, according to Corey. The man was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was in surgery for non-life-threatening wounds as of around 1 p.m.

Video posted to Twitter by 1010WINS reporter Samantha Liebman showed the man's girlfriend complaining that police had shot the man without cause, adding, "This is why you don't call NYPD for help."

The couple's three-year-old child was inside the apartment the whole time, but was unharmed, according to Corey.

Police released photos of the machete that they say was recovered at the scene.

Corey said police records show a "rather extensive domestic history" between the suspect and the woman, with allegations of assault, harassment, and orders of protection against the man that he violated on multiple occasions.

Charges are pending against him, according to an NYPD spokesperson

Two police officers were also taken to hospitals to be evaluated. No one else was shot or injured.

Hours later, 33rd Street remained fully cordoned off at Broadway, with police cars surrounding the intersection.