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Knife-Wielding Man Shot Dead By Officers In Brooklyn, Police Say

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A knife wielding man in was shot dead by police Monday afternoon in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

As 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon reported, police received a 911 call around 3 p.m., from a landlord reporting that a man had been acting strangely and threatening him with violence in a building on Hart Street in Brooklyn.

Knife-Wielding Man Shot Dead By Officers In Brooklyn, Police Say

When officers arrived, the suspect allegedly brandished a knife, and banged on the patrol car window with it. The officers drove away from the suspect, who then threw a drinking glass that struck a vehicle behind the squad car.

Officers then drove west along Hart Street and turned left onto Irving Avenue, where they parked the squad car. The officers got out and walked around the corner, where the suspect remained with knife in hand.

The officers demanded that the suspect drop the knife multiple times, but the suspect lunged at the officers, police said.

Mary Lopez could see the incident from inside a beauty salon where she works.

"They were telling him to drop the knife, drop the knife, but he was just going towards them and he got shot five times," she said.

One of the officers fired at the man, striking him in the torso and left hand. The suspect – identified as Rexford Dasrath, 22 – was pronounced dead at Woodhull Medical Center.

The officers were taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center for observation, police said. The knife was recovered at the scene.

Bushwick Police Shooting Scene
The scene after a man was shot and killed by police in Bushwick, Brooklyn. (Credit: Sonia Rincon/1010 WINS)

Neighbors said they have never seen Dasrath act out before, but police sources said he had a history of mental health problems.

The investigation continued late Monday.

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