Knife-wielding man slashes NYPD officer in face with 14-inch blade, police shoot him dead in pursuit

A knife-wielding man was shot dead during a police pursuit in New York City after entering a police precinct and slashing an officer in the face with a 14-inch blade, authorities said Sunday.

The attack unfolded just before 5:30 a.m. at the 73rd Precinct in Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood when a man entered the building through an employee entrance, NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera told reporters at a briefing.

When a female officer stopped the man and told him to go out and enter through the front door, the man pulled out "a large butcher knife" and slashed her in the face, Rivera said.

The female officer fought off the knife-wielding man, who then ran out through the back of the precinct. An officer used a taser as the man escaped, but the device was not effective in stopping him, Rivera said.

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Several officers chased after the man, ordering him to drop the knife. The man did not comply with the officers' commands, Rivera said.

A short time later, the man lunged at an officer with the knife. Several officers then opened fire on the knife-wielding man, striking him numerous times. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Officers recovered the 14-inch blade at the scene.

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The officer who was slashed in the face was treated at a hospital, where she is recovering and in "good spirits," Rivera said.

"This situation could have turned out very differently," he said. "This is the risk that every NYPD officer faces every single day."

Rivera said investigators had a tentative identification on the knife-wielding man, but could not immediately release it to the public.

Police said the incident remains under investigation.