By Colin Mixson, Kerry Burke
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Police engaged in a three-hour standoff with a knife-wielding man that ended after the building where he was barricaded erupted in flames Thursday, cops said.
Officers were responding to a 911 call for a man menacing others with a knife when they found the 37-year-old suspect barricaded inside a building on Fulton St. near Eastern Parkway in Ocean Hill around 3:49 p.m., according to law enforcement.
Firefighters were called to the scene and the building was evacuated — except for a cat that had apparently been left behind — as the suspect threatened to ignite a blaze, according to officials.
The standoff stretched for nearly three hours when a fire suddenly erupted from within the basement or first floor of the building and firefighters sprung into action around 6:46 p.m., officials said.
The suspect was arrested after an NYPD emergency service unit stormed the building. The rescuers also saved the cat who’d been left behind, police sources said.
The suspect was taken to Brookdale Hospital following his arrest and a firefighter was treated for minor injuries, according to cops and firefighters.
©2024 New York Daily News.
Visit nydailynews.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.