A violent scene inside a Manhattan apartment building ended with police fatally shooting a 54-year-old man after authorities say he slashed his elderly father in the head and then advanced toward responding officers with a large butcher knife.
NYPD officers were dispatched to a building on Ludlow Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side at approximately 4 p.m. Sunday following a report of an assault in progress.
What they encountered after arriving immediately indicated something serious had happened.
Police said officers entered the building and discovered a trail of blood leading up a staircase. They followed it, uncertain about what they would find above.
“Officers entered the building, saw the trail of blood and responded without hesitation, not knowing what was waiting for them as they went up the stairs,” Assistant Chief Melissa Eger said during a news conference Sunday evening.
As officers climbed the blood-stained stairs, police said they encountered 54-year-old Wei Chan holding a large butcher knife.
According to Eger, Chan began advancing toward the officers.
Police repeatedly ordered him to put down the weapon, but he did not comply, authorities said.
“Officers responded and discharged their firearms, striking the subject,” Eger said.
Witness video recorded outside the building reportedly showed emergency medical personnel performing CPR on Chan following the shooting. He was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
But Chan was not the only person who needed emergency treatment.
Officers searching the building found his 75-year-old father, Chung Chan, on the second floor suffering from a laceration to his head. Investigators determined that the younger Chan had attacked his father with the knife, according to police.
The father was also taken to Bellevue Hospital. Authorities said he was in stable condition and expected to survive.
Sources said the elderly man had not yet been told that his son died following the confrontation with police.
The aftermath unfolded in full view of people in the neighborhood, including a Brazilian couple visiting New York City on their honeymoon.
Fabio Gutierrez, 43, said he and his new wife, Debora Martins, 38, were eating dinner at a nearby restaurant when the emergency response began.
“I thought it was a neighborhood fight,” Gutierrez said.
The reality became apparent when they saw first responders working on one of the men.
“We saw the guy getting on the gurney, they were giving him CPR,” Martins said.
For a couple visiting the city, the scene was particularly jarring.
“I’ve never seen someone who seemed like they were dying,” Martins said. “We are tourists here; we are not used to seeing that kind of violence. So it was really, really shocking to see the guy in that state.”
Martins said she also saw another man covered in blood being taken from the area.
“He was not good. He was all bloody,” she said.
Police said Wei Chan had no prior criminal history with the NYPD, although authorities said he had a documented history of mental health issues. Officials did not immediately provide additional details about that history or identify a motive for the alleged attack on his father.
The butcher knife was recovered at the scene.
Despite the close-range confrontation on the staircase, none of the responding officers was injured.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was briefed on the police shooting and offered his wishes for Chung Chan’s recovery.
“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 said.
