Police shot a man in New Jersey on Saturday morning after he lunged at them with a knife, stabbing one officer and sending her to the hospital.
Police say they received a call about a man with a knife near a Dunkin Donuts in East Orange. When East Orange officers arrived they asked the man to drop the knife, but he refused and walked away down Central Avenue.
Officers followed the knife-wielding man by car and on foot for about a quarter of a mile to Orange. At Central Avenue and Oakwood Avenue, they asked him to drop his knife again, but he refused, so one officer sprayed him with pepper spray. But instead of putting down the knife, the man lunged at police, stabbing a female officer in the shoulder.
The stabbed officer and another officer fired their guns six times around 9 a.m., hitting the man an unknown number of times.
The officer and the suspect were both taken to area hospitals, according to Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of Detectives Anthony Ambrose. The suspect was listed in critical condition at University Hospital. The officer who was stabbed was treated at an area hospital and released.
Police were still at the scene Saturday afternoon investigating. A Speedway gas station at the intersection was blocked with police cars and police tape.
This is a developing story. Check back here for more.
