Off-Duty Officer Shoots Man After Stabbing At UWS Duane Reade

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A fight near an Upper West Side Duane Reade ended with an off-duty police officer shooting a man who had stabbed another man, the New York Police Department said.

Hours before a sizable segment of the New York Police Department gathered outside a midtown cathedral, at about 7 a.m., two men, ages 42 and 66, began to argue just inside the door of Duane Reade on West 94th Street and Broadway, police said.

The off-duty officer was working a security shift at the store, and told the men to take the fight outside, police said.

Once outside, the scuffle raised a level in intensity when the 42-year-old stabbed the older man in the arm with a knife, police said.

Police sources also told multiple publications that the fight might have started over shoplifting inside the Upper West Side store.

The stabber tried to run from the corner but the off-duty officer chased after him, police said.

The off-duty cop caught up with the suspect at the corner of West 94th Street and Amsterdam, where the man turned to the NYPD officer and refused to drop the knife, police added.

The officer then shot the man, striking him in his left arm and leg, with his service weapon, police said.

Emergency services rushed the 42-year-old to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, where he is expected to survive, police said.

He remains in police custody.

The officer was taken to a local hospital along with the man stabbed at the Duane Reade — who is also expected to survive.

In recent months, the Upper West Side Duane Reade has taken to hiring extra security as it looks to counteract a rise in shoplifting.

The entire situation developed as hundreds of people made their way into St. Patrick's Cathedral and filled out the surrounding area outside the church to pay their respects Friday at the funeral for Jason Rivera, the 22-year-old rookie police officer who was gunned down in Harlem last week while responding to a domestic dispute.

Read More: Police Officer Jason Rivera's Funeral Held At St. Pat's Cathedral