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A former New York police officer was reportedly shot and killed at a hospital while he was armed with piece of a broken toilet seat after he repeatedly cut himself and threatened to kill others.
WABC identified the man as 62-year-old Michael Lynch, of Brooklyn.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) on Thursday said officers responded to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital shortly before 5:30 p.m. after they received multiple reports about a violent man who was armed with a sharp weapon inside the hospital.
The man, later identified as Lynch, was a patient at the hospital. He was admitted on Wednesday, police said.
NYPD Assistant Chief Charlie Minch said callers told dispatchers that the man barricaded himself inside a room with other people and had cut himself and was trying to cut others, as well. Minch said hospital staff told police the man also threatened to kill them.
“When they got to the room, they saw blood all over the walls, floor, and splattered across the exterior of the door,” Minch said at a news conference. “The subject came into the doorframe and displayed the bloody weapon.”
Former NY officer armed with piece of broken toilet seat shot, killed by police (Screenshot from video courtesy of the New York Police Department)
Minch said officers stood outside the door for at least three minutes while they issued “dozens of verbal commands,” urging the man to drop the weapon, but he continuously refused. He also tried to forcefully shut the door several times as officers attempted to get inside.
“There were two additional people who were trapped in the room,” Minch said, noting they they included an elderly patient and a security guard, who he threatened to kill.
Minch said when the man stepped toward officers with the weapon in his hands, the officers shot him with a stun gun, which wasn’t effective. The man still tried to close the door, with the officers trying to kick the door open and telling the man to come out.
The man again “advanced toward the officers” with the weapon in his hand, with officers firing another stun gun. The stun guns didn’t work, so they then shot him.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, with police recovering the weapon.
“This situation could have turned out very differently,” Minch said. “This individual threatened hospital staff, barricaded himself inside of a room with an elderly patient and a member of hospital security with a weapon. Everyday our officers put on their uniforms, they never know what kind of dangerous situation they are going encounter. That is the risk that every member of the NYPD faces every single day to keep this city safe.”
During the news briefing, police showed an image of the weapon, which was covered in blood. At the time, Minch said authorities were working to determine what the weapon was made out of.
Cting police, WABC later reported it was a piece of a broken toilet seat. Police said it was unclear how he got the weapon.
The media outlet reported that Lynch had no criminal record and resigned from the NYPD in the 1990s for reasons that were not immediately clear.
“This incident demonstrates the incredibly dangerous situations that our officers encounter every single day,” Minch said.