New York: A man stabbed a New York policeman in the neck with a knife on Wednesday. Two officers who attempted to rescue were also wounded before they shot the attacker, the police said.
The three policemen and the attacker were taken to Kings County Hospital. Police were in stable condition, whereas the suspect's condition was critical, the police said.
The attack took place in Brooklyn, amid the mass protests in New York over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed in police custody in broad daylight.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea confirmed the police were on duty to stop the looting amid the mass protests.
Describing the event, Shea said a man ''casually'' walked up to one of the officers, pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the left side of his neck.
"It appears to be a completely cowardly, despicable, senseless attack on a defenseless police officer," Shea said. "Thank God we're not planning a funeral."
The two other officers heard shots fired from two blocks away and ran to help, and saw the attacker had equipped the wounded police officer's gun.
The other two officers were shot in the hands as they struggled against the attacker, but details on how they were shot was not revealed by Shea.
For the unversed, protests have taken place across the U.S. after Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered by the police after he was accused of attempting to use a counterfeit 20 USD bill at a Minneapolis deli.
Floyd was handcuffed and pinned to the ground by police, with one officer, Derek Chauvin, holding his knee to the man's neck for nearly nine minutes, even as he cried that 'he couldn't breathe' and pleaded for help, after which he became unresponsive. Paramedics were called and performed chest compressions and transported the man to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The video of the arrest went viral which prompted protests and riots in Minneapolis and other cities across the country. The four police involved in the incident were fired, and on May 31, Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
However, the latest reports confirm that Chauvin has now been charged with second-degree murder. That means he could serve up to a sentence of up to 40 years.
The three other officers involved in the crime, who were just sacked at first, will now face charges of aiding and abetting the murder of Floyd.
