By Andrew Stickler
Newsday
NASSAU, N.Y. — A Nassau police officer yesterday shot to death a knife-wielding man who smashed his way into an Elmont bakery, threatening a woman and then officers, police officials said. It was the first time a Nassau cop has killed someone in more than two years, police said.
The name of the suspect was being withheld pending notification of his family.
The events leading to the deadly confrontation inside the Francis Lewis Deli Bakery on Hempstead Turnpike started just before 6 a.m., when the man – holding a piece of lumber – motioned through the glass storefront at a lone employee inside to unlock the door, according to Det. Lt. Kevin Smith.
The 28-year-old woman became frightened and called the store owner, police said. The man then swung the wood, smashing a plate-glass window, and climbed inside. Police said the woman escaped through the front of the store and was met by two arriving Fifth Precinct patrolmen, officials said.
The officers entered the store with guns drawn and confronted the man, who held one or two knives and was “making verbal threats,” Smith said.
“Numerous verbal attempts are made to get him to drop the knives. He refused,” he said.
One of the officers fired his weapon, fatally wounding the suspect. He was pronounced dead at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream, police said.
The preliminary investigation indicated that the officer fired two or three times, Smith said, but it was not immediately known how many shots hit the suspect or at what distance the officer fired. Several kitchen-style knives and a broken piece of wood were recovered inside the store.
Officials described the confrontation as brief and heated, although it was unclear yesterday what triggered the shooting. “What made the officer fire the weapon, that’s part of the investigation,” Smith said.
The officer who fired is 25 years old and spent four years with the New York Police Department before joining the Nassau department in January of last year, officials said. He will remain on regular assignment while the investigation continues. Police declined to identify him, citing the investigation into the shooting.
The officer and his partner, who joined the department at the same time and has experience with a Suffolk law enforcement agency, were taken to a hospital for evaluation but were not injured, police said.
The suspect was a 37-year-old man, police said. The store employee suffered cuts to her face and hand, but it was unclear if she was struck by flying glass or if she was hurt because she escaped through the broken window, police said. She was treated and released from Franklin Hospital Medical Center.
The last time a Nassau police officer killed a suspect was Aug. 11, 2005, when officers responded to a call of a disturbance at a house in Seaford. One of the residents, Nicholas Bisulca, 52, fired a shotgun from his porch at two officers who returned fire, fatally wounding him.
Yesterday’s shooting drew concern but also some shrugs among people near the scene on Hempstead Turnpike, which is lined with bars, delis and discount stores.
“Things are happening all the time around here,” said Anthony Thompson, 24, who lives and works in Elmont. “That’s just the way things are.”
Others spoke of drug dealers in a nearby park and frequent visits by police. An officer guarding the crime scene, which was spotted with orange evidence cones, called the strip “the crossroads” of the local drug trade.
“Everybody is a little scared, yes,” said Jason LaFo
Copyright 2008 Newsday