Knife-wielding man shot dead by cops in the Bronx

Two police officers shot and killed a man armed with a kitchen knife who was chasing a woman down a Bronx street Thursday, officials said.

The two cops, a plainclothes sergeant and detective assigned to Bronx Narcotics, were stopped at a red light when they saw people yelling for help on E. 233rd St. at Barnes Ave. in Wakefield just after 6:15 p.m., cops said.

Then they saw the woman running on E. 233rd St., and the knife-wielding man barreling after her in the middle of the street, NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said.

“They know each other from the street. From what we talked to her today, she said they had a dispute yesterday [Wednesday]. He came up to her, threatened her, said he was going to kill her for not calling him,” Monahan said.

“She got away yesterday. As she sees him today, he approaches her and the dispute escalates.”

The man’s direct encounter with the cops came when they yelled at him to drop his weapon, Monahan said.

But the man ignored the command, and turned and ran toward them instead, Monahan said.

The officers fired five or six times, hitting him, Monahan said.

“I heard a woman scream, then a few minutes later I heard three shots,” said Faisal Essa, 51, the owner of Essa Deli Grocery nearby.

“A woman came inside and told me and everyone to stay inside, not go outside, she said there was trouble outside.”

Medics took the wounded man to Montefiore Medical Center, but he couldn’t be saved.

Police found several more knives at the scene, and on the man when he was taken to the hospital, Monahan said.

Police were still working to identify the man.