Man Sets Fire To Woman's Body In Harlem Building Before Slitting His Throat, NYPD Says

EAST HARLEM, NY — A man slit his throat in a botched suicide attempt after a police standoff in his East Harlem apartment building. The standoff started after the man was seen dragging a woman's dead body into the stairwell of a Harlem apartment complex, an NYPD spokesman told Patch.

The man, who has not been identified, dragged the woman's body into the ninth floor stairwell of a building on East 105th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues around 6:30 Tuesday morning, police told Patch. Once inside the stairwell, he lit the body on fire, police said.

The man then retreated to his own apartment building on Park Avenue between East 104th and 105th streets and locked himself in a 12th floor apartment, an NYPD spokesman said. Inside the apartment with the man was a 60-year-old woman, a 20-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy, police told Patch.

A short standoff with police ended when the man slit his throat in a botched suicide attempt, an NYPD spokesman said. The man survived and was transported to Harlem Hospital in critical condition, police said.

Both buildings are part of the New York City Housing Authority's George Washington Carver Houses development.

The Medical Examiner will investigate the woman's cause of death, police told Patch.

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