By Kerry Burke and John Annese
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — NYPD officers shot and killed a knife-wielding woman after she lured them to her Queens home by reporting a burglary, then lunged at them Monday evening, police sources said.
The 54-year-old woman, identified by police sources as Susan Muller, called 911 to report a woman had broken into her home on 69th St. by 52nd Rd. in Maspeth just after 5:25 p.m., cops said.
Four officers responded and entered the home, and the woman followed them in, sources said. She then pulled out a 10-inch kitchen knife and lunged at them, and the cops fatally shot her, police said.
They immediately provided medical aid to the woman, but she was too far gone, sources said.
“A total of 50 seconds passed from the arrival to shots fired,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea “She followed them in and came at the officers with the knife.”
Two of the responding officers wore body cameras, but it’s not clear if the shooting was caught on tape.
“One officer ordered her to put it down. We know that because there was body camera video,” Shea said. Another officer opened fire three times, Shea said.
Police believe the woman may have been emotionally disturbed, and officers have responded to several past calls at the house, sources said.
“Her motivation is unknown....There is a history of calls at this location,” Shea said.
Young Kim, who lives next door, said she heard four shots, then saw police swarm the block.
“It was (a) gunshot...I heard (it) four times. I got scared,” said Kim, who was at home with her daughters.
She said everything was quiet next door before the shots, she said.
“No yelling, no fighting, I didn’t hear anything,” Kim said.
Another neighbor, Kevin Tang, 17, said the couple living in the home seemed “paranoid and suspicious.”
“She’d usually start a lot of fights with (him),” Tang said of the woman. “The police have come a few times. The police and an ambulance came a few days ago.”