NYPD: Elderly man shot and killed by police as cops pursued suspected burglar

Police shot and killed a 78-year-old man as they searched for a burglar who had reportedly broken into a Brooklyn apartment, according to NYPD officials.

As police responded to a burglary call, they knocked on the man's apartment door on Lewis Avenue in Bed-Stuy, officials said. The man, who was not the robbery suspect, opened the door and police said he had a firearm, which he pointed at the officers. The officers then shot the man, who was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.

"An elderly male lost his life today. It's very tough," said NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, who briefed reporters from the scene. "This is a tragic situation."

None of the officers were struck and it's unclear if the man ever fired his weapon.

Sharon, who didn’t share her last name out of concern for her safety, lives just blocks away. Learning of the news as she walked past the scene on Thursday afternoon, she said she wished she could be shocked to hear what happened.

“I was shocked, but then not shocked," she said. "I'm tired of being, 'Oh my God,' and then going, 'Well, what is new?' I shouldn't even be able to say, 'What is new?' I should just be able to sit right with the shock.”

It was the first of several shootings the NYPD reported on Thursday. Later in the afternoon, officers shot a man in Queens after he allegedly stabbed a security guard. Police also described another shooting involving cops in the Bronx Thursday night.

The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation has also opened an investigation into the death.