Police Shoot, Kill Man Who Attacked Sergeant With Knife In Jersey City
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Police in Jersey City on Monday were probing an incident last week in which a sergeant shot and killed a man who tried to attack him with a kitchen knife.
Just after 7 p.m. Friday, police were dispatched to an apartment at 239 Fowler Ave. in Jersey City, along with a therapist from the Jersey City Medical Center Mobile Crisis Unit. The man who lived in the apartment had a history of mental illness and violence, and had threatened to kill mental health workers on previous occasions, police said.
The man had also attacked police officers and emergency medical technicians on past trips to the hospital, police said.
On this particular occasion, the man had locked himself in his apartment. Police and the therapist tried to talk to the man, but when that method proved unsuccessful, emergency services officers were dispatched.
A standoff began. Emergency services officers tried to negotiate with the man, but when that did not work, they broke through the door. The man immediately came at the officers with a kitchen knife, police said.
The officers threw out a distraction device and a non-lethal pepper ball system, but they had no effect on the man, police said.
Finally, the man tried to attack a sergeant with the knife, prompting the sergeant to fire several shots.
The man was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m. Friday at the Jersey City Medical Center, after suffering gunshot wounds to his head and upper body. The sergeant was not injured, but was treated and released for stress-induced trauma, police said.
The man had lived in the building on Fowler Avenue for about 3 1/2 years, and had been aggressive with the building superintendent and his own neighbors for some time.
His name was not released Monday, pending family notification.
The sergeant who shot and killed the man is a 15-year Jersey City police veteran.
The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office has launched a routine investigation into the shooting.
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