A Bronx police officer shot and killed a knife-wielding man during a confrontation at a convenience store on Saturday afternoon.
Law enforcement sources said the confrontation stemmed from an apparent robbery attempt inside the 7-Eleven located at 3508 East Tremont Ave., just around the corner from the 45th Precinct stationhouse in Throggs Neck.
Assistant Chief Benjamin Gurley, commanding officer of Patrol Borough Bronx, outlined the preliminary leading to the deadly shooting at a Saturday evening press conference at the 45th Precinct stationhouse. Gurley said the details were ascertained through reviews of officer bodycam footage and store security camera video, as well as eyewitness accounts.
According to Gurley, the trouble began at the 7-Eleven at about 2:10 p.m. on Sept. 9, when the suspect — described by the chief as a Black man in his 30s who lived in the Bronx — walked into and began pacing back and forth between the front and the rear of the location.
One of the employees inside the location then briefly left the location to meet with a relative, Gurley explained. When the employee returned to the shop, the worker apparently spotted the knife-wielding suspect behind the counter with another employee, “who looked very nervous.”
The preliminary investigation found that the perpetrator had been removing products from behind the counter at knifepoint, Gurley explained.
The returning employee then headed for the 45th Precinct stationhouse and alerted police to the situation. Gurley said two uniformed officers then walked over to the 7-Eleven, where they observed the perpetrator in the rear, with his hands in his sweatshirt pockets.
“As the officers approached, one officer gave several commands to the male inside the location to take his hands out of his sweatshirt pocket,” the chief explained. “As the officer gave those commands, that male then advanced on the officer, revealing a knife in his pocket.”
Gurley explained that the perpetrator lunged at the officer with the weapon, which turned out to be a kitchen knife; police later recovered the weapon.
The officer who gave the command backpedaled, then pulled out his firearm and pulled the trigger, striking the suspect in the chest, according to Gurley.
“Both officers then immediately rendered first aid, and called for EMS,” Gurley said.
The suspect was rushed to Jacobi Hospital, but died there at about 3:14 p.m. Saturday, the chief reported. The officers involved in the shooting were also taken to a local hospital for observation, but were not injured.
According to Gurley, the suspect “had police contact before,” but it was the first time the workers at the 7-Eleven had seen the man.
The investigation remains ongoing, police said. The NYPD Force Investigation Division is assigned to police shooting cases.
