An emotionally disturbed man was shot and killed by police in New Rochelle after authorities say he lunged at them with a knife Sunday.
According to a statement from the New Rochelle Police Department, a relative reported that 48-year-old Samuel Cruz was off his medication, acting irrationally, and refusing to answer the door at his home on Hickory Street.
After speaking with Cruz and attempting to get him to open the door, officers decided he was "behaving irrationally, in distress, and a potential danger to himself and others in the building," the statement said.
Police forced open the door and saw Cruz was holding a knife. As the officers entered the apartment, police said Cruz threatened them.
Officers used a stun gun on Cruz twice but could not immobilize him, police said. Cruz then came at them with the knife and one of the officers fired, striking Cruz once in the chest.
Cruz was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
The officer who fired on Cruz has been placed on modified duty as authorities investigate the shooting.
