At about 5:30 p.m. on Monday night, officers responded to a 911 call about a burglary in progress at the upstairs apartment at 52-14 69th Street.
The resident, who published reports identified as Susan Muller, met the officers at the front of her house and identified herself as the 911 caller. She directed them upstairs, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea.
Muller also told the cops that there was a female intruder carrying either a knife or razor.
But it was, in fact, Muller who had a knife. As the officers searched the apartment for a suspect, Muller lunged at the officers with the weapon.
“One of the officers gave direction to put the knife down,” said Shea in a statment. “We know this because there was body camera video.”
When Muller didn’t comply, an officer shot three times at her torso.
Muller was pronounced dead at the scene. The whole ordeal unfolded over just 50 seconds, beginning from when the officers entered the apartment.
Authorities, who recovered a 10-inch knife at the scene, noted that there is a “history of calls to this location,” so officers were familiar with Muller and the address.
“It is an ongoing crime scene as we speak,” Shea said on Monday night. “Her motivation is unknown at the time.”