A man wielding a meat cleaver was shot by a NYPD police officer near Penn Station in New York City. Two policemen and one off-duty detective were injured in the incident and rushed to a hospital.

Gunshots were heard on 32nd street between Sixth and Seventh avenues in New York around 5:00pm in Midtown. Police and SWAT teams locked down the area.

New York City Police Commissioner, Bill Bratton, told reporters that three officers fired 18 shots at the cleaver-wielding man after he attacked officers.

"The officers fired sufficient rounds to stop the attack,” said the official.

He also said that the suspect, identified as Akram Joudeh, hit an off-duty detective with the weapon, inflicting a six-inch gash from temple to jaw, NBC reported.



The confrontation began when officers approached Joudeh as he attempted to remove a car boot, or wheel clamp, that had been attached to his vehicle.

The detective was transported to the hospital in serious condition, the suspect is in critical condition. — NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 15, 2016

“Two officers were injured. They are both stable, and being treated at Bellevue Hospital,” the NYPD had earlier told RT, adding that DCPI was on the scene in Midtown Manhattan.

NYPD Spokesperson J. Peter Donald confirmed that the suspect had a meat cleaver and was shot by the officers.

Officers in midtown Manhattan encountered a man with meat cleaver. Officers discharged several rounds striking the suspect. — J. Peter Donald (@JPeterDonald) September 15, 2016

According to witness testimonies gathered by New York Daily News, NYPD officers were called in to a busy Midtown area just before 5:00pm, when witnesses reported seeing a man with a beard, wearing sandals, running and waving a meat cleaver in his hand.

The @NYPDMTS officers pursued the male and put his description over the radio. A responding uniformed sergeant deployed a taser to no effect — NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 15, 2016

“He was running down the street waving it,” an MTA worker told the publication. “The cops were chasing him.”

Officers, who reportedly had an off-duty detective among them, cornered the man on 32nd Street and ordered told him to drop the weapon.

Upon arriving at the scene the officers encountered a male who removed a 11-inch meat clever from his waistband & fled west bound. — NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 15, 2016

"Drop it! Drop it!” NYPD told the armed man repeatedly, according to witnesses. The suspect refused.

about 6 gun shots outside the office on 32nd street... that's a new one. can't really see what's happening though. https://t.co/N9SL5tP3Qx — (@mattlehrer) Sep 15 2016

NY Daily News reported that the officers initially used a Taser on the man, which had no effect on him, according to a high-ranking police source. A tussle followed, during which a detective reportedly tried to knock the weapon from the suspect's hand.

That is when the suspect struck the cop in the head. The man was later shot by police.

The suspect struck the detective in the head causing an approximate 6-inch wound. — NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 15, 2016

“They shot him up,” one witness told the news outlet. “He was hit five or six times. He was laid up on the sidewalk. It looked like he was dead.”

The perpetrator of the attack was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

Meanwhile, NBC News reported that Joudeh, of Queens, was known to the police and had15 prior arrests, including one on August 27 after he was found carrying knives near a synagogue.

A Periscope tweet from @lyndseyrathburn showed an ambulance leaving the scene with at least three helicopters circling above. The street was cordoned off with a large police presence.