A 25-year-old man who was allegedly cutting himself with a knife and threatening police officers was shot by one of the cops early this morning. The commanding officer for the Bronx Borough Commander Larry Nikunen said that even after being shot, "The suspect still refused to drop the knife," so cops used a stun gun on him.
The incident occurred just before 1 a.m. by the Throgs Neck Houses in the Bronx. Nikunen said that two officers from Police Service Area #8 "observed a male running and holding his side, believing he may have had a weapon." Police say they asked him to stop, but he fled into 2755 Dewey Avenue. The officers called for assistance and pursued the suspect into the building, Nikunen explained:
The officers caught up with and encountered the suspect on the 7th floor, where he was in possession of a knife and cutting himself. He was also threatening to kill himself.
A 45th Precinct plainclothes sergeant responded to the officers' call for assistance and deployed a conducted energy device on the suspect. The suspect continued to advance toward the officers with the knife. One of the uniformed housing officers then discharged one round, striking in suspect one time in the upper right thigh. The suspect still refused to drop the knife, and the sergeant deployed the conducted energy device a second time, allowing the officers to place the suspect into custody.
The suspect, Carlos Colon, 25, was taken to Jacobi Hospital in stable condition. According to the Daily News, "Deputy Chief Nikunen said that Colon may have pulled the taser pins out of his skin when the device was used on him the first time. 'Some people react differently to a taser. Sometimes, it's able to subdue a suspect and other times it's not,' he said."
WABC 7 reports "he might [have been] under the influence of drugs, maybe heroin" and Colon had apparently been kicked out of his girlfriend's apartment earlier that day.
The two housing officers were uninjured but taken to Einstein Hospital for observation.
