Cop shoots knife guy
Coney suspect wounded, officer cut on hand
Police who shot and wounded a knife-wielding attacker after he sliced a cop who tried to break up a fight over a Brooklyn parking spot showed a great deal of restraint, Mayor Adams said Thursday.
Officer John Favale suffered a deep cut on his thumb during the fierce exchange, which involved the suspect chasing the cop around a car outside the Department of Motor Vehicles on W. 8th St. near Sheepshead Bay Road in Coney Island, police sources said.
Three officers were near the DMV, which is down the block from the 60th Precinct stationhouse, when they saw the 57-year-old man argue with a motorist over a parking spot the suspect felt he had dibs on.
When the man pulled a large knife — which one police source described as a machete — the officers pulled their weapons and demanded he drop the blade, NYPD brass said.
As he chased and sliced Favale, one of the other officers fired off four rounds, hitting the blade bearer in the leg and shoulder, police said.
After Favale was treated and released from Coney Island Hospital, Adams praised the officers for their restraint under difficult circumstances.
“Because of that, we saw a police officer walk out of the hospital and a dangerous person apprehended,” Adams said.
The wounded suspect was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Cops said the attacker was wearing thick, red gloves, and was actually carrying two knives, one with an 6-inch blade and another 16-inch knife with an 11-inch blade.
*As the officer began approaching the SUV to investigate the man rushed toward the officer with one of the knives raised,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. “Acting quickly, the officer tactically repositioned putting distance between himself and the armed man.”
She said witnesses alerted other cops nearby.
“These officers rushed to help their fellow officer. As they did the armed perpetrator began to advance on these officers. One officer gave numerous clear orders to the man to drop the knives. Failing to drop the knives and as the subject continued to charge at the officers one officer fired four times, striking the man in the leg and shoulder.”
Sewell said the officers “never hesitated to engage a man armed with two knives.” Witnesses said the standoff was intense. “I heard a lot of screaming,” said a woman named Sarah, who works at Luna Park Pharmacy next door to the DMV. “I got to the door and that’s when I saw the cop shoot the guy. He was still fighting them very much to get the cuffs on. He was fighting, telling everyone to get off of him.”
She said the knife was huge. “Almost like a sword,” she explained. Anna Kotov, 23, and a friend were heading to Blink Fitness a few storefronts down from the scene when the chaos erupted.
“The guy was acting crazy,” Kotov said. “The cop tried to figure out what was going on and then he started chasing him. He pulled out a big knife and ran at the cop. I heard shots and we ran. We didn’t look back. I didn’t know who was shooting, I didn’t know when it would stop. It was terrifying.”
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch added his praise.
“If the department was putting together a script for a training video they would use this,” Lynch said. “Our police officers when others were at their worst, were at their best. Firearms control, giving distance. Directions and instructions along with the public, from the public to us and us to them. And then the restraint to make sure they’re stopping this person from trying to kill anyone, and then a struggle that went on and on and on. Still that restraint. “
Adams said the wounded officer comes from a service-oriented family. Favale has two brothers, including his twin, who graduated the NYPD academy with him in December 2015. Their father, Anthony was serving the department as a Deputy Inspector at the time. Another Favale brother is a firefighter, Adams said.
The mayor said he worked with the elder Favale when he was on the job.
“This is a New York story,” Adams said. “This is a New York family, a New York story, putting their lives on the line, whether it’s fighting the blaze of a fire or the blaze of violence.”