Fatal officer-involved shooting in Riverhead being investigated by attorney general's office

Town of Southampton police shot and killed a man armed with a knife on Sunday afternoon after officers responded to a call of a "violent" disturbance in a family home, Suffolk County police said in a statement late Sunday.

Town police said they received a call at 2:43 p.m. from a resident on Topping Drive in the hamlet of Northampton about "an escalating violent domestic situation."

A witness said that police shot the man outside the home when he refused to drop the knife.

A woman suffered serious injuries, Suffolk County police said, and she was taken to a hospital. It was unclear how she was injured. Three Town of Southampton police officers were also taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries, but were treated and released.

"Officers secured the scene and an investigation is ongoing with the Suffolk County Police Department," Southampton police spokeswoman Det. Sgt. Gina Laferrera said in an earlier statement. "There is currently no danger to the community."

State troopers and Southampton police blocked off Topping Drive Sunday afternoon with yellow crime scene tape.

Greg Mastronardi, whose parents live across the street, said he and his wife witnessed the shooting.

Mastronardi said that he saw a man come out of the house with a knife in his hand.

"The cop was telling him, 'drop the knife, drop the knife' several times. He didn't comply," he added.

The police officer was about 10 feet from the stairs leading up to the porch of the home — where the man was — when the officer opened fire, Mastronardi said.

The New York State Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation is conducting "a preliminary assessment of the matter," a spokeswoman said.

By New York State law, the attorney general's office must investigate all fatal police-involved shootings.