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Man Shot After Striking Off-Duty New York Officer With Meat Cleaver, Authorities Say Man Shot After Striking Off-Duty New York Detective With Meat Cleaver, Authorities Say
(about 2 hours later)
A man wielding a meat cleaver near Pennsylvania Station on Thursday and resisting police officers’ efforts to catch him struck an off-duty officer in the head with it before being shot by the police, an episode that sent commuters and tourists fleeing during the evening rush. A man wielding an 11-inch meat cleaver near Pennsylvania Station and resisting police officers’ efforts to catch him on Thursday slashed an off-duty detective in the head before being shot by the police, the authorities said, an episode that sent commuters and tourists fleeing during the evening rush.
A police spokesman, J. Peter Donald, said the off-duty officer, who tried to tackle the man as he was fleeing, had injuries that were not life-threatening. The suspect was critically injured, Mr. Donald said. Four other officers were taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, two with serious injuries and two with minor ones. It started when the police confronted a man who was trying to remove a “boot” device attached to a tire on his car, officials said, and escalated into a chaotic chase through Midtown Manhattan that ended with officers shooting at the suspect 18 times .
The episode began around 5 p.m., Mr. Donald said, when officers responded to a report of a man with a meat cleaver and pursued him along or near 32nd Street in Manhattan. The suspect, Akram Joudeh, 32, was critically injured and taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, the police said. The off-duty detective was in serious condition. Four other officers were taken to the center, two with serious injuries and two with minor ones.
The off-duty officer, who was in the area, was struck in the head as he tried to stop the suspect. The episode began about 5 p.m. at West 32nd Street and Broadway when several officers responded to a report about Mr. Joudeh trying to remove the device, Police Commissioner William Bratton said at a news conference on Thursday night. The police said they believed Mr. Joudeh, whose last known residence was in Queens, was living out of his car.
Jonathan Scheier, 28, a software engineer, said he was getting a coffee when he saw about seven or eight police officers confront a man with a large knife near the corner of 32nd Street and Avenue of the Americas. The chief of department, James O’Neill, said Mr. Joudeh pulled a cleaver from his waist band, threatened the officers and then fled. At one point, the chief said, the suspect mounted the front grill of a parked police car that had responded to the call. As officers pursued him, a uniformed sergeant “deployed a Taser, striking the suspect without apparent effect,” he said.
Mr. Scheier said the officers pointed their guns at the man, shouting, “Drop the weapon.” He said the man appeared “flustered.” As Mr. Joudeh ran west along West 32nd Street, an off-duty detective in civilian clothes who was headed to Penn Station after a day in court saw the pursuit and tried to stop him. He was struck in the head with the cleaver, “causing an approximate six-inch gash from his temple about down to his jaw,” the chief said.
Officers then fired at the suspect, striking him several times, the chief said.
Officials said Mr. Joudeh had a string of arrests but would not elaborate on his criminal history. In 2010, Mr. Joudeh pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of petit larceny and was sentenced to 90 days, according to public records. In 2009, he was charged grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, but those felonies were dismissed, records show. He pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a vehicle, and was fined, but served no jail time.
Asked about the possibility that the attack may be tied to terrorism, Chief O’Neill said, “As part of our investigation, nothing’s off the table.”
The chase left commuters and tourists scurrying for cover as officers flooded the area during the start of the evening rush near a transit hub. Mr. Bratton addressed concerns that so many shots were fired in such a busy area.
“Sufficient shots were fired to deter the attack on my officers,” he said.
Richard DeWald, a nurse, said he narrowly avoided Mr. Joudeh as he darted past him as he was being pursued. “He just seemed wild and crazy,” said Mr. DeWald, 56. “First there was yelling and then all I heard was the gunshots.”
Witnesses said they saw Mr. Joudeh on the corner of 32nd Street and Avenue of the Americas, clutching a large meat cleaver to his chest. They said he was silent and his face was expressionless.
“He didn’t say a word, that’s the thing,” said Jonathan Schneier, 28, a software engineer, who watched the episode unfold from across the street.
Mr. Schneier said the officers pointed their guns at the man, shouting, “Drop the weapon.” He said the man appeared “flustered.”
“He just looked like a crazy guy with a huge weapon,” he said. “He just literally looked like a deer in headlights.”“He just looked like a crazy guy with a huge weapon,” he said. “He just literally looked like a deer in headlights.”
He said the man ran west on 32nd Street, “sprinting as fast as he could,” and was pursued by police. About 10 seconds after that, he said he heard gunshots. He said the man began “sprinting as fast as he could,” and was pursued by police. About 10 seconds after that, he said he heard gunshots.
“Pop pop, and then like pop pop pop pop,” he said.“Pop pop, and then like pop pop pop pop,” he said.
“I called my girlfriend right away and told her what happened,” he added. “It’s New York, stuff happens.” “I called my girlfriend right away and told her what happened,” he added. “It’s New York. Stuff happens.”
Robert Mennella, 53, of Bridgewater, N.J., said he had left the subway station at 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue and was headed to Penn Station.Robert Mennella, 53, of Bridgewater, N.J., said he had left the subway station at 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue and was headed to Penn Station.
He said he saw a number of unmarked and marked police cars racing toward Avenue of the Americas along 32nd Street when he heard about seven to 10 gunshots. He said he saw a number of unmarked and marked police cars racing along 32nd Street when he heard gunshots.
“It was more than a few,” Mr. Mennella said, describing the noise as coming from about 100 yards behind him.
“Everybody turned around,” he said. “Some people stood there with their phones to take pictures, and I just took off.”“Everybody turned around,” he said. “Some people stood there with their phones to take pictures, and I just took off.”
He said he ran to Penn Station and saw officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New Jersey Transit running upstairs.He said he ran to Penn Station and saw officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New Jersey Transit running upstairs.
“I just told them ‘shots fired,’ and they started running faster,” he said.“I just told them ‘shots fired,’ and they started running faster,” he said.
Mr. Mennella, who grew up in Manhattan, said he had heard gunfire before but never this close. Thirty minutes after the episode, he said he was still shaken. Lina Gana, a laser technician at Cosmed Laser and Spa on Avenue of the Americas, said she heard gunshots that “sounded like a machine gun.”
Josh Khalifa, 23, of Brooklyn, said he had left his cellphone store on Avenue of the Americas to get a coffee and was near 31st Street and the avenue when there was a commotion and people started to run. He said he ran in the opposite direction of those fleeing and saw a man holding his head, leaning against a police patrol car. Another technician, Nailya Howe, who has worked in the area for three years and at the spa for more than a year, said she was surprised by what happened.
He said officers were tending to the man and he heard six to seven gunshots in quick succession a few minutes later. “I’ve never heard gunshots here before,” she said. “This is a very quiet area.”
Ms. Gana agreed. “Ten minutes before the shooting, I was walking down the street getting food for everyone,” she said. “And then this happened.”