NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 27-year-old "emotionally disturbed" man who was carrying a machete was shot by police responding to a domestic dispute in Queens on Monday morning.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Kenneth Corey said officers responded at 9:48 a.m. reporting an "emotionally disturbed" person was armed with a weapon on 33rd Street and Broadway in Astoria.
Corey said the female 911 caller, the mother of his 3-year-old son, said she had repeatedly asked the man to leave the apartment, but he refused to do so.
He said that the caller, Brianna Cortez, told police that the man had a machete, had taken pills and talked about dying.
When the four officers arrived, they were told the individual was still armed. As officers tried to remove people from the apartment, the man confronted them in a narrow hallway while holding the 911 caller's mother.
After getting the older woman out of the apartment, the officers deployed a Taser. When it had no effect, Corey said one officer discharged his weapon around three times, striking the man in the groin area.
Cortez denied several police accounts to 1010 WINS, including the use of the Taser and even the machete.
"There was no Taser," she said. "[He] reached for his gun 'bang bang.'"
The machete was recovered at the scene, Corey said.
Her boyfriend was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst. He is expected to survive.
Two officers are being evaluated, but no one else was struck by gunfire or injured during the incident.
Cortez said that she called police to her mother's 33rd Street apartment to get her boyfriend, who was visiting, to leave.
"It was just a verbal disagreement," she said.
She added that she wanted police to tell the 27-year-old to leave.
"My mom, the primary tenant, said, 'no you cannot come in.'" They took her, [a] 53-year-old woman, slammed her to the ground, didn't ask [any] questions, pulled out a gun and shot my baby daddy twice," she said.
Cortez was crying on the street, clutching her son after the incident.
Cortez said their son witnessed the shooting. Meanwhile, Corey said he was inside the apartment, but it was unclear where he was exactly.
The Administration for Children's Services is conducting its own investigation as well.
The chief said there is a "rather extensive" history between the 911 caller and the individual, with multiple allegations of domestic assault, harassment and orders of protection that have been violated on multiple occasions.
Corey said the man also has a prior arrest for assaulting a police officer.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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