QUEENS, NY — An NYPD officer shot a woman during a volatile confrontation inside a South Ozone Park home after police responded to reports of a break-in and a stabbing, according to police sources. The woman was taken to a hospital, where doctors said she was stable.
Police also said three other men were hospitalized with stab wounds. Rashawn Donavan, 48, was later arrested and faces multiple charges, including attempted murder, assault with a weapon, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Investigators have not said what sparked the violence inside the house.
911 calls bring officers to a home on 149th Street
Police said they received several 911 calls Friday night about a possible break-in and stabbing at a home on 149th Street in South Ozone Park. When officers arrived, they first tried to get someone to answer the door, but no one responded.
Moments later, police said, a man shouted from a second-floor window that he had been stabbed by his uncle. The call added urgency to a scene that was already unfolding inside the residence, where officers believed people were injured and needed help.
According to police, a woman then appeared at a third-floor window and threw her keys down to officers. That led members of the NYPD into the building to check on the people inside and confront what they described as an active, chaotic struggle.
Police say officers found people fighting on the third floor
Once inside the third floor, officers encountered a woman and two men who were still struggling, police said. The officers moved to separate the people and repeatedly ordered them to show their hands.
NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said the woman did not comply with commands. He said she pointed at one of the men with her left hand while keeping her right hand down, then moved toward officers while holding a knife.
Rivera said the woman was only a few feet from the officers when one of them fired, striking her. After she went down, another officer used a Taser, and a separate officer recovered the knife, he said.
Woman taken to hospital after officers fire and deploy Taser
Emergency responders rushed the woman to a hospital after the shooting. Doctors later said she was in stable condition, police said.
The police account shows how quickly the encounter moved from a welfare response to a use-of-force incident. Officers were initially sent to the home because of reports that someone had broken in and that a stabbing had already happened, but the situation turned into a physical confrontation inside the building.
Police have not identified the woman, and they have not said whether she was among the people who were stabbed. Officials also have not released details about the extent of her injuries beyond her hospital condition.
Three men with stab wounds were also hospitalized
In addition to the woman who was shot, three men were taken to local hospitals for treatment of stab wounds, police said. Authorities did not immediately identify the men or describe how badly they were hurt.
Police recovered two knives from the scene. That detail suggests multiple weapons were involved, but investigators have not explained who used either knife or how the injuries were inflicted during the confrontation.
The number of injured people and the discovery of two knives point to a fast-moving and confused scene inside the home. Officers were responding to a single emergency call, but what they found was a group of people already hurt and struggling with one another.
Donavan faces attempted murder and weapons charges as investigation continues
Police arrested Rashawn Donavan, 48, in connection with the incident. He faces two counts of attempted murder, along with assault with a weapon, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
Authorities have not said what role Donavan is accused of playing in the stabbings or in the confrontation with officers. His arrest came after the violent encounter at the home, but police have not laid out a full sequence of events beyond the early witness and officer accounts.
Investigators also have not said what triggered the stabbings in the first place. For now, the case centers on a domestic-style disturbance that drew police to a Queens home and ended with a shooting, multiple stabbing victims and an arrest.