FORT GREENE — Police shot and critically wounded a 40-year-old man wielding scissors after he lunged at a woman in a Fort Greene apartment Wednesday afternoon, according to the NYPD.

The incident happened just before 3:30 p.m. at 48 Fort Greene Place, across from the elite Brooklyn Technical High School, after the woman flagged down an officer on Fulton Street who was on his way to a court appearance, police said.

"A cop was approached by a female on Fulton Street who said there was a male at Fort Greene Place with scissors on the second floor," NYPD Inspector Kim Royster said. "When the police [officer] was inside the apartment he found a male armed with scissors."

The man was holding the scissors to his own throat, and then he turned on the woman, throwing her to the ground and lunging at her with the scissors, police said.

The 25-year-old police officer fired twice, hitting the man in the chest, police said.

The man was taken to Kings County Hospital in critical condition, police said. The woman was unhurt.

The officer was taken to New York Methodist Hospital for tinnitus, police said.

The relationship between the man, who lived in the apartment, and the woman was not immediately clear.

The man is believed to have mental problems, NBC New York reported.

The investigation was ongoing Wednesday evening, police said.