An NYPD officer opened fire on an unhinged man wielding two butcher knives who terrorized dozens people in a swath of Little Italy and NoLiTa on Friday, police said.
The officer’s bullet missed Jordan Fields, 25 — and police eventually subdued him with a Taser, said cops.
Fields’ rampage began around 8:30 a.m. at the Butcher’s Daughter, a vegetarian café at the corner of Kenmare St. and Elizabeth St., said police and witnesses.
Fields grabbed a glass bottle used to serve water at the restaurant, said manager Mariel Valdez.
“He grabbed the bottle, walked away, broke the bottle, and came back,” Valdez said.
By then, the staff had locked the doors — so Field went next door to a market attached to the café and demanded a mask, said Scotty Cochran, the worker stationed there.
“He was wearing work gloves, so I thought he was doing deliveries,” Cochran said. “He didn’t seem threatening at first. He just seemed impatient.”
Cochran said that when he failed to find a mask, Fields responded: “Give me your f—–g mask.”
Cochran said he handed over his own mask — and Fields began smashing bottles of olive oil on the store’s shelves. Cochran took refuge in the locked café next door.
Fields soon moved on to another eatery, Ruby’s Café on Mulberry St. near Spring St., where he swiped two butcher knives from the kitchen, said police sources.
“He just grabbed them and left,” a café manager told the Daily News. “The kitchen guys tried to run after him. It was very fast.”
Fields then wandered south, passing the Butcher’s Daughter again, with a blade in each hand, “probably to look unapproachable or intimidating,” said Cochran.
Near the corner of Elizabeth St. and Grand St., Fields threatened to cut a group of elderly people, and threatened to poke one of the people with a knife, said police sources.
An NYPD helicopter soon spotted Fields near East Houston St.
Field hurried past the Cafetal Social Club on Mott St. near East Houston St. as Kim Kalesti sat nearby. “He had two butcher’s knives,” she said. “They were really big knives.”
Cops chased Fields on foot, said Kalesti.
“They were having a hard time catching up to him,” she said. “Then he turned the corner [at East Houston St. and Bowery] and we heard a gunshot.”
An 9th Precinct officer fired a round, but no one was hit, police said.
Another officer hit Fields with a Taser, said police. Fields then dropped the knives and was taken into custody. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital with minor injuries, said authorities.
The officer who fired the gun round was taken to an area hospital with ringing in the ears, said sources. No other injuries were reported.
Fields was raised by an adoptive mother in the Cypress Hills Houses in East New York, Brooklyn, said his stepbrother, Terry Fields, 60.
Terry Fields said the suspect was still distraught over his adoptive mother’s recent death.
“He doesn’t hurt anybody. He’s a talker,” the stepbrother said. “He’s been going through some things. He was taking medication but after the death of our mother, he stopped.”
Terry Fields and a family friend said the suspect was acting erratically when they saw him a few days ago.
Police said Jordan Fields is a Crips member who was sentenced three years in prison for attempted weapons possession following the July 4, 2013 shooting of Police Officer Jamil Sarwar at the Cypress Hills Houses in East New York.
Charges against Fields in Friday’s incident were pending.
“It’s kind of scary when you see a crazy person with two butcher knives walking down the street,” Kalesti said.
