New York City police officers shot and killed a 44-year-old man who was refusing to stop attacking another man with a knife, Chief of Patrol Fausto Pichardo said Wednesday night.

A 45-year-old woman was found bleeding on the ground when officers arrived shortly before 7 p.m. at the apartment building on St. Nicholas Terrace in Harlem. Medical personnel pronounced the woman, and the man shot by officers, dead at the scene.

Police had been responding to a report of shots fired when they found the woman on the ground and the men fighting.

The man with a knife ignored orders to stop and was shot in the torso, Pichardo said. The 39-year-old man who was stabbed is in stable condition, he said.

A semiautomatic handgun and a kitchen knife were recovered.

A 41-year-old woman who was also at the scene wasn’t injured.

Remarks as prepared for Chief of Patrol Fausto Pichardo:

Good Evening,

I am Chief of Patrol Fausto Pichardo. Standing here with me is Deputy Chief Philip Rivera, the Executive Officer of Manhattan North, Deputy Chief Brian McGee the Manhattan North Chief of Detectives and Captain Aneudy Castillo the Commanding Officer of the 26th Precinct.

The information I am about to provide is preliminary and subject to change as this incident is only a few hours old.

Earlier this evening at 6:50 PM, police were called to one Saint Nicholas Terrace for reports of a person shot. Upon arrival both uniformed and plain clothes officers made their way to an apartment on the fifth floor. A sergeant approached the apartment, which had its door open, and observed a female laying on the ground. The sergeant called out to an individual, later identified as the suspect, who was engaged in a violent struggle on the ground with another male. The suspect was given numerous verbal commands to show the officers his hands. The suspect armed with a knife attempted to stab the male. The sergeant then discharged his service weapon striking the suspect in the torso. The suspect was taken into custody and the officers immediately called for an ambulance, medical assistance was called for.

The suspect (male, 44-years-old) was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Also pronounced at the scene by EMS was a 45-year-old female victim. The owner of the apartment, a 39-year-old male, was taken to an area hospital where he is listed in stable condition. Also in the apartment was a 41-year-old female who was uninjured and speaking to detectives.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC / AP)