NYPD Cops Shoot, Kill Knife-Wielding Man In The Bronx

BELMONT, THE BRONX — Two NYPD officers shot and killed a man who allegedly slashed his landlord in the Bronx Monday evening after he ignored commands to drop the knife he was wielding, police said. The shooting was caught on body cameras, the NYPD said.

Two 48th Precinct cops encountered Michael Hansford at the corner of East 181st Street and Prospect Avenue, where they found him chasing another man with a "combat type" knife around 7:40 p.m., NYPD Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison said.

Hansford, 52, had just wounded his landlord in the shoulder at the Prospect Avenue building where he lived in the Belmont neighborhood, Harrison said. The landlord, who asked not to be named, told PIX11 he had just told Hansford he would evict him in two weeks because he was behind on his rent.

The cops repeatedly told Hansford to drop the knife outside, Harrison said. The cops shot him after he turned around and lunged at them while holding it, the chief said.

Hansford was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital and pronounced dead. The "military knife" he was carrying was recovered at the scene, Harrison said.

Police are investigating how many times the cops demanded the man drop the knife and how many shots they fired, an NYPD spokesman said.

After watching one of the body camera videos, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said he thought the cops acted appropriately.

"I'm glad the police officers walked away from that encounter safely," O'Neill said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday. "It was a violent encounter."

(Lead image: Police recovered this knife they say was brandished by a man whom two NYPD cops shot and killed in the Bronx Monday evening. Photo from NYPD)