FAR ROCKAWAY, NY – A 29-year-old man was fatally shot by police officers early Sunday morning after he charged at them with a box cutter during a domestic dispute call in Queens, authorities said.
Officers from the NYPD responded to an apartment on Nameoke Street in Far Rockaway around 12:25 a.m. after receiving reports of a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival, they encountered the man’s parents outside the residence, who directed them inside.
After searching the apartment, officers located the man in a hallway clutching a box cutter. What happened next unfolded in seconds, with the encounter captured on police body camera footage.
Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera described the tense moments that followed. The man’s father “immediately engaged in an altercation with his son, which then became physical,” Rivera said. The father attempted to intervene but stepped back when officers arrived on scene.
Despite repeated commands to drop the weapon, the man refused to comply. According to police, he suddenly charged at the officers, leaving them with little time to react.
One officer deployed a Taser while a second officer opened fire, striking the man. Officers immediately performed CPR and transported him to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not been released pending family notification.
No officers or bystanders were injured during the confrontation.
The shooting is now under review by the NYPD’s Force Investigation Division and the New York State Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation, which handles all police-involved deaths as mandated by state law.
