A police officer shot and wounded an emotionally disturbed man who charged at him with a dagger Sunday night in Brooklyn, investigators said.
A resident saw a man kicking car doors of parked cars near the intersection of East 68th Street and Avenue T and called 911 at about 7:10 p.m. The man ran into his home on Avenue T and when officers approached, he stood in the window holding the dagger, police said.
At one point, the man ran toward officers who evaded him. He then charged at one officer, who backed away and fired two shots, striking the man once in the abdomen, said Assistant Chief Steven Powers.
"I just heard like three random shots, like 'poof, poof, poof,'" one witness said.
"I thought it was firecrackers. I didn't realize it was gunshots," witness Howard Spector said.
The man wielded a 8-to-9-inch dagger that appeared to be a replica from the 1994 superhero movie "The Shadow," Powers said.
The man, later identified as 27-year-old Simon Zemshin, was taken to New York Methodist Hospital. Information about his condition was unavailable, but he was expected to survive his wound.
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No officers were injured.
"He talks to himself. Something was wrong with him," Spector said of Zemshin's emotional state.
Police also found a switchblade in Zemshin's pocket. They said he has a police record and may have been under the influence of the drug K2.
The neighborhood was still shaken up Sunday night after witnessing the chaotic scene.
"I can't believe it can happen here," one resident said.
