New York City police officers fatally shot a butcher knife-wielding man in Manhattan's Lower East Side on Sunday, according to authorities.

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- New York City police officers fatally shot a butcher knife-wielding man in Manhattan's Lower East Side on Sunday nigiht, according to authorities, who said the shooting followed the suspect repeatedly being told to drop the weapon.

Assistant NYPD Chief Melissa Eager identified the suspect to reporters at a press conference as 54-year-old Wei Chan.

She said the shooting occurred in the stairwell of a building at 126 Ludlow Street, where officers were responding to multiple 911 calls for an assault in progress at 4:06 p.m EDT.

Officers arrived at the building to find a trail of blood leading up the staircase where they encountered Chan descending and armed with the large knife.

The officers repeatedly commanded the suspect to show his hands and drop the weapon, then discharged their service weapons. Eager said the suspect "did engage them with a large butcher knife" as he descended the stairs.

Emergency services transported Chan to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead, she said.

It was unclear how many rounds were fired, but Eager said the shooting was captured by body-worn cameras.

"Officers entered the building, saw a trail of blood and responded without hesitation not knowing what was waiting for them as they went up the stairs," she said. "Their actions are a reminder of how officers run toward danger and not away from it."

Eager said Cheung Chan, the 75-year-old father of the suspect, suffered a laceration to the head and was also transported to Bellevue Hospital for treatment and was expected to survive.

Little information about the alleged slashing was made public, but Eager accused Wei Chan of being responsible for it.

Eager said the suspect had no known prior criminal history but that he had a "documented mental health history" with the NYPD.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he has been briefed on the shooting.

"As with every incident in which NYPD officers discharge their weapons, there will be an internal investigation, and body-worn camera footage of the incident will be released," he said in a social media statement.