Man attacks NYC Police with meat cleaver
By: The Associated Press
news@abc6.com
NEW YORK, N.Y. – A man was shot by police on a crowded New York City street after he struck an off-duty detective with a meat cleaver.
The man was initially stopped because he was trying to remove a boot from a vehicle that he was apparently living in, authorities said.
The shooting happened about a block from Macy’s department store and Madison Square Garden around 5 p.m. Thursday, just as rush hour was getting underway.
Police said the confrontation began when two uniformed officers encountered Akram Joudeh, 32, trying to remove an immobilizing boot from a parked vehicle.
As the officers approached him, Joudeh pulled out an 11-inch meat cleaver and ran.
A group of officers chased him, and at one point shot him with a Taser, with no apparent effect.
An off-duty police detective tried to tackle him, and that’s when Joudeh lashed out with the knife, hacking the face of the detective, said the department’s top chief, James O’Neill. Officers then opened fire.
“They shot until the threat was stopped,” said O’Neill, who is succeeding Police Commissioner William Bratton, who is retiring on Friday.
Police fired 18 shots, striking Joudeh at least twice. He was hospitalized Thursday night in critical but stable condition, police said.
The detective is being treated for a six-inch gash from his temple to his jaw.
Police said Joudeh has been arrested more than a dozen times in recent years, mostly for minor crimes, but didn’t provide details.
© WLNE-TV / ABC6
