A 22-year-old robbery suspect died Saturday after he was shot once by a detective during a violent struggle on Manhattan’s East Village, police said.

The shooting occurred after two detectives searched a building at 1:48 p.m. Saturday, looking for a man who had punched and stolen the purse two days earlier of a 21-year-old woman who stopped a presentation she was giving at City College when the man demanded to see her, police said.

Police said the suspect, who was not immediately identified, fled out a sixth-floor apartment window and down a fire escape. They said two detectives ran down steps inside the building and encountered the suspect near the building’s lobby.

“There, a violent struggle ensued between the suspect and the two detectives,” police said in a release. “During the 5-minute-long fight, the suspect was able to grab hold of a police radio. Armed with the radio, he began to strike both detectives in the head, causing lacerations and abrasions to both of the detectives’ heads.”

It was then, police said, that one of the detectives drew his firearm and fired once, striking the suspect in the torso. The suspect was taken to Beth Israel Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

One detective had a dislocated shoulder. Both had bruising and lacerations to the head and were hospitalized at Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.

(AP)