Police Shoot Young Man at Brooklyn Laundromat for Allegedly Lunging at Them With a Knife

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — A 23-year-old man who allegedly "lunged" at New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers while holding a knife was shot three times in the torso by one of the officers Wednesday morning along the border of Brownsville and East Flatbush, police said.

The victim, Davonte Pressley, was in critical condition Wednesday afternoon, according to the NYPD.

The police narrative is that shortly before 11 a.m., multiple people called 911 to report a man with a knife and a gun outside a laundromat at 842 Remsen Ave.

Arriving officers "repeatedly ordered" the man, later identified as Pressley, to let go of the knife, police said.

Instead, Pressley "lunged towards the officers" with the weapon "still in his hand," police said.

One officer then shot Pressley three times in the torso, according to the NYPD. Pressley was transported to Brookdale Hospital in critical condition, police said.

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Police also released the above photo of the knife Pressley had at the scene.

A spokesman for the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), the department in charge of transporting injured New Yorkers to the hospital, told Patch after the shooting that Pressley was in "serious" condition, but not likely to die.

The Brownsville police shooting comes on the heels of another NYPD shooting last week, in which a police sergeant shot and killed an elderly, "emotionally disturbed" Bronx woman in her home because she allegedly lunged at him with a baseball bat. Although the sergeant was also armed with a Taser, he reached straight for his gun.. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Commissioner James O'Neill both admitted the shooting was "unacceptable" and "didn't have to happen."

Pictured at top: Pressley's knife, according to police. Photo courtesy of the NYPD.