Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

A New York City man who later claimed he had COVID-19 and to have underlying health issues pulled a weapon on police Wednesday morning in an attempt at "suicide by cop," police said.

When police encountered the man in his Bronx neighborhood just before 4 a.m., he advanced on them with a black powder pistol, according to police.

Officers repeatedly told him to drop his weapon and then fired at the man, hitting him in the hip and back.

The incident was recorded on police body cameras and the man, who has not been identified, is expected to survive.

When police spoke to the man after the shooting, he said that he was just diagnosed with COVID-19 last night, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said.

Monahan said the man is overweight, has diabetes and thought he was going to die.

"He wanted the cops to shoot and kill him," Monahan said. "This was apparently attempted suicide by police officer."