Police said the 53-year-old returned to a grocery store with a 13-inch kitchen knife after a dispute and was shot after officers ordered him to drop it.
NEW YORK, NY — NYPD officers shot a 53-year-old man outside an East Harlem grocery store early Monday after he allegedly brandished a large kitchen knife, ignored repeated orders to drop it and moved toward officers, police said.
The shooting happened outside City Fresh Market on 3rd Avenue near East 120th Street, adding another officer-involved shooting to the city’s public safety debate at a time when police leaders have been closely scrutinized over use-of-force cases. Officials said the man was taken to Harlem Hospital in critical but stable condition, no officers were hurt, and the department’s Force Investigation Division opened an investigation. Police had not publicly identified the man by late Monday morning, and they had not announced charges.
Police said the encounter began at about 1:36 a.m., when officers were sent to the store after a report of a disorderly man harassing employees outside. At an early morning briefing, NYPD Inspector Andrew Natiw said the man had first gotten into a verbal dispute with another customer inside the market. After that argument, Natiw said, store employees physically removed him from the business. Police said he came back a short time later carrying what Natiw described as a large kitchen knife, about 13 inches long, and began waving it outside the entrance. Store workers locked the doors, called 911 and recorded video as the man moved near the storefront. When officers reached the scene, Natiw said, they gave repeated verbal commands for him to drop the knife and tried to create distance. Police said the man then approached the officers with the blade extended, and one officer fired, striking him in the stomach once.
Investigators sealed off part of the block as the department began collecting evidence, and television footage from the scene showed a wide police presence stretching along East 119th Street to East 121st Street. Police said the knife was recovered at the scene. Natiw said the officers involved were taken to a local hospital for evaluation, which is routine after a police shooting, but he said none suffered physical injuries in the confrontation itself. He also said the episode was captured on officers’ body-worn cameras, a detail that could become central as investigators review exactly how the final seconds unfolded. Police did not say at the morning briefing how many shots were fired beyond the one round that struck the man, and officials did not release the names of the officers. They also did not publicly describe whether the man made any statements before the shooting or whether officers tried less-lethal options before the gunfire. By late morning, several important details remained unresolved, including the man’s identity, why he returned to the store with the knife and whether prosecutors would bring any charges if he survives his injuries.
The location of the shooting gave investigators access to several kinds of evidence almost immediately. In addition to body camera footage, workers inside the market had already taken photos and video of the man outside the entrance before officers arrived, according to police. That means investigators are likely to compare police video with civilian footage and witness accounts from employees and anyone else nearby on the block. The setting also matters because the confrontation unfolded outside a neighborhood supermarket rather than inside a private home or behind closed doors, placing workers and passersby close to the scene in the minutes before police opened fire. East Harlem is a dense, heavily traveled part of Manhattan, and even overnight incidents can quickly draw witnesses, patrol officers and investigators. For nearby residents, the shooting briefly turned an ordinary commercial stretch into a crime scene lined with police tape and marked evidence. The incident did not appear to involve any officer injuries or any reports that the man stabbed anyone before police arrived, though police said he had been threatening workers and banging on the store window with the knife.
As of Monday, the case remained in its earliest stage. The NYPD said its Force Investigation Division was handling the inquiry into the shooting, and officials stressed that the public account could change as video is reviewed and witnesses are interviewed. Police described the information released at the morning briefing as preliminary. That matters because key legal and procedural questions still had not been answered publicly: whether the man will face charges tied to the confrontation at the store, whether prosecutors will examine the officers’ use of force, and when the department may release additional body camera footage or a fuller timeline. Officials also had not said whether the man has an attorney or whether family members had been notified. His medical condition remained serious, though police said he was stable after being taken to Harlem Hospital. The pace of the next updates may depend on both the hospital’s assessment of his injuries and investigators’ review of the recordings from the scene. For now, the department’s public position is that officers issued multiple commands, tried to keep space between themselves and the man, and fired only after he advanced with the knife.
Outside the market, the aftermath reflected the abrupt violence of a confrontation that began with a store dispute and ended with a police shooting on a city sidewalk before dawn. Video referenced by police appeared to show a man in a blue hoodie near the storefront with a knife in hand shortly before officers arrived. Natiw said employees had to remove the man from the store after he became irate and disorderly, and he said workers later watched him return armed with the kitchen knife. Those details gave the shooting a narrow but vivid timeline: argument, removal, return, 911 call, police response and gunfire. The market itself became an unwilling focal point, with staff members turning from overnight work to emergency calls and then to answering questions from investigators. By daylight, officers and investigators were still processing the scene. The strongest unanswered question remained the simplest one: what exactly happened in the final moment between commands and the shot. That answer is likely to come from the combined record of police body cameras, store videos and witness interviews now under review.
The man remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition Monday, police said, and the NYPD had not yet released his name or announced charges. The next public milestone is likely to be a fuller police update after investigators review body camera footage and complete early witness interviews.
Author note: Last updated April 6, 2026.