A New York City police officer shot a knife-wielding man who lunged at officers inside a Queens home on Friday evening, NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said.

The man, who was shot twice, was in critical condition late Friday, Monahan told reporters. He said officers had responded to the same home three times in the past three days for the same man, “who was having hallucinations.”

The man, 41, told officers Friday morning that he had been using crystal methamphetamine and was “contemplating suicide,” Monahan said. He was taken to the hospital after that, but later released. That evening, a family member reported that the man was armed with a knife and destroying the basement, Monahan said.

Responding officers entered the home and walked down a “narrow staircase” to the basement, where they found the man and a family member. Monahan said four officers spent around 10 minutes trying to convince the man to go to the hospital, but “he abruptly pulled out a large knife and yelled, ‘I’m not going back to the hospital.’”

He then lunged at an officer standing on the staircase, Monahan said, at which point one officer used a Taser on him while “almost simultaneously” another officer shot the man twice.

No officers were injured. They were wearing body cameras that had been activated, Monahan said.

No details about the man’s identity were released.

(AP)