Westbury police shoot former Columbia med student during confrontation
WESTBURY, Long Island (WABC) -- A man was shot in the face by police on Monday night after authorities say he was acting irrationally with a knife and threatening to stab people.
Adrian Thompson, 27, is charged with two counts of menacing a police officer.
Police said Tuesday that he was once a medical student at Columbia University and is well-educated, but his parents said he is suffering from depression.
His parents also said he may have been using drugs or sniffing glue.
Police responded to a call around 10 p.m. for a man acting irrationally with a large knife and threatening to stab people.
Authorities say that person ran up to the officers' vehicle from the bushes and smashed the passenger-side window with a large knife.
The officer sitting in the passenger seat fired two shots, but missed both times.
When the man with the knife ran to the back of the police vehicle, he was confronted by a second officer who fired one shot, striking the man in the face.
Police say the bullet went in one side of his jaw and out the other side.
Thompson was taken to Nassau University Medical Center, where he is recovering.
Both police officers were taken to the hospital to be treated for trauma.
Investigators say they recovered a knife at the scene.
One of the bullets fired during the incident went through a fence and narrowly missed a teenager who was in her bedroom.
"Little pieces of my wall went all through my room, and I think that's what I felt by my shoulder," Sarai Montoya said. "My dad was like, 'Those were gunshots,' and I was scared because why would a gunshot be through my room?"
Her family said they are relieved that the bullet did not hit any of their four family members who were home at the time.
On Tuesday afternoon, Nassau police returned to the Montoya home with the Crime Scene Search Unit, and law enforcement officials were speaking with those who were in the house at the time of the incident.
Thompson was arraigned at his bedside and remanded. He pleaded not guilty to the two counts of menacing a police officer.
He's due back in court on Thursday.
The investigation is ongoing.
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