Man killed by police after holding family at knife point and stabbing at police

NYPD: Officers kill man who threatens them, family

By JENNIFER PELTZ

Associated Press Writer

April 12, 2009

NEW YORK

Police shot and killed a knife-wielding man who threatened to kill his wife and children and stabbed officers in their bulletproof vests on Sunday, a police spokesman said. 

"I have to kill the children and my wife and send them to heaven," Mauricio Jacques, 35, told officers in Spanish, according to police. "I don't care about killing myself and going to hell." 

Jacques' family was rescued during the standoff in his Bronx apartment, where officers found him around 10 a.m. holding his wife by the arm with one hand, with a knife in the other, New York Police Department chief spokesman Paul Browne said in a statement. 

An officer pulled the wife, 33-year-old Anna Martinez, free as Jacques swung the knife at him, Browne said. Officers also ushered the children _ ages 11, 9 and 5 _ to safety, police said. 

Then officers left the Commonwealth Avenue apartment while police negotiators tried for about an hour to persuade Jacques to surrender, Browne said in a statement that gave the following account of officers' confrontation with him. 

Jacques agreed but then lunged with a 10-inch knife at officers, who tried to subdue Jacques with a stun gun and rubber pellets. Undeterred, he stabbed an officer in the abdomen of his protective vest and slashed another's vest near the neck. 

After another stun-gun blast failed to subdue Jacques, two officers fired six shots. It's unclear how many rounds hit Jacques, who was pronounced dead at a hospital. 

One of the officers was treated for a bruised arm. 

Browne said police officials were reviewing the circumstances surrounding the shooting _ the second deadly NYPD shooting within five days _ but it appeared to be justified under department guidelines for the use of lethal force. 

No telephone number could be found for Jacques' apartment. His wife and children were believed to be staying with relatives, police said. 

Neighbors and acquaintances puzzled over what sparked the Easter Sunday violence in what some described as a seemingly normal family, though others said Jacques was known for his temper. 

Neighbor Julio Rodriguez told reporters he had long found something troubling about Jacques but kept it to himself. 

"I figured, you know, every parent has their aggressive side. But I had no idea his side was that aggressive," Rodriguez said. 

On Wednesday, NYPD officers fatally shot a 48-year-old Brooklyn woman they said slashed an officer's hands with a 12-inch kitchen knife, possibly causing nerve damage.