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NYPD officers fatally shot a 54-year-old man Sunday afternoon after police said he advanced toward them with a large butcher knife inside a Lower East Side apartment building.
The shooting happened shortly after 4 p.m. at 126 Ludlow Street, where officers were responding to multiple 911 calls reporting an assault in progress.
When officers entered the building, they found a trail of blood leading up a staircase, NYPD Assistant Chief Melissa Eger said during a Sunday evening news conference.
As officers headed upstairs, they encountered 54-year-old Wei Chan coming down the staircase while armed with what police described as a large butcher knife.
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NYPD officers work the scene after police shot a man they say was armed with a butcher knife at 126 Ludlow Street in Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Officers repeated multiple commands for the male to show his hands in an effort for him to drop the weapon,” Eger said. “As officers issued repeated commands, the male continued to advance towards the officers armed with the large butcher knife.”
The officers then opened fire, striking Chan. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“He has no known criminal history with our department. However, he does have a documented mental health history with the department,” Eger said.
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When officers entered the building, they spotted a trail of blood leading up a staircase, NYPD Assistant Chief Melissa Eger said during a Sunday evening news conference. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Officers also found Wei Chan’s 75-year-old father, Cheung Chan, suffering from a laceration to the head. Investigators said Wei Chan had injured his father before police arrived.
He was also taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.
The responding officers were also taken to a hospital for evaluation, police said.
“Their actions are a reminder of how officers run towards danger and not away from it,” Eger said.
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Sunday that he had been briefed on the incident and confirmed that body-camera footage would be released as part of the investigation. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Sunday that he had been briefed on the shooting and that the incident would undergo an internal investigation.
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“As with every incident in which NYPD officers discharge their weapons, there will be an internal investigation, and body-worn camera footage of the incident will be released,” Mamdani wrote on X.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.
