Knifeman Shot Dead By Cops As He Stabs His Partner On LES: NYPD

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Police shot dead a man who bolted from them as they tried to arrest him, grabbed an 11 inch knife and started plunging it into his partner in a Lower East Side apartment building early Friday, the NYPD said.

The man was found hiding in a closet at 227 Cherry St. by two officers who'd been called to the address by another individual who reported a domestic disturbance around 7 a.m., police said. The cops started to lead the man out of the apartment.

"Suddenly, this individual broke away from the officers, grabbed a large knife from the kitchen area and ran toward the 911 caller," said the NYPD's Chief of Department Terence Monahan.

"As the knife-wielding suspect began stabbing the other occupant, officers discharged their firearms, striking the armed suspect and ending the attack."

The officers shot five times, hitting the man, which the New York Posts reported was 32-years-old. He was taken to Beekman Downtown Hospital where he was pronounced dead about 8 a.m., Monahan said.

The other individual, which the Post reported is a transgender woman, was also taken to a hospital with slash wounds to her face and shoulder and stab wounds to her shoulder. The woman, which the Daily News reported is 42-years-old, is expected to survive, police said.

The Post reported the victim called 911, saying, "He's in the back. He's got a knife!"

The names of both individuals have not been released.

Police said an order of protection was recently issued against the now-deceased man.

"There are reports of domestic violence involving the two individuals which led to the issuance of an order of protection," a police source said.

The address police were called is the affordable portion of the under-construction Extell Development tower in the Lower East Side. What appears to be bullet holes can be seen on the fifth floor window on the north side of the building.

The Residents Association of Two Bridges Tower on South St. criticized the building's management, Wavecrest Management, regarding security issues in a tweet Friday morning.

"Building[s] of this size and composition requires security and social services-which this building doesn't have," the association alleged.

"We are very saddened by this morning's events," Jay Yablonsky, a senior property manager at Wavecrest, said by email. "Our residents' safety and security is of the utmost importance to us. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement agencies."

Wavecrest did not answer questions about what security measures exist at 227 Cherry St.

Lead image of knife police said the man was using: NYPD

Second and third images by Sydney Pereira