Police shot a knife-wielding man after he allegedly stabbed a church security guard in the stomach minutes earlier outside a Queens church Thursday, authorities said.
Cops opened fire on the 59-year-old suspect as the alleged stabber refused to drop the knife and walked toward them outside the First Presbyterian Church, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said during an evening press conference.
Authorities were called to 164th Street in Jamaica around 3:45 p.m. after the suspect allegedly stabbed the 40-year-old guard, who worked for the church, Chell said.
The guard was stabbed outside the church’s administrative building after a woman noticed the man acting “erratically” with a knife in his hand. The injured guard retreated back inside the building and 911 was called.
The suspect was spotted on an adjacent staircase of the church once police arrived, Chell said.
“He was advancing on our officers and they had to make a tough decision,” Chell said, noting the officers knew when they arrived a victim had already been stabbed.
The suspect and stabbed victim were both taken to local hospitals in stable condition, cops said. The officers were also taken to a local hospital.
The suspect had no known criminal history, but a history of mental illness.
Chell said the guard’s actions prevented the man from potentially getting into the church’s administrative building, which was occupied.
“That individual gets into the building, this is a different news conference,” Chell said.
