Columbia med student shot in face during knife confrontation with Nassau Police in Westbury

A 27-year-old Columbia University medical student was shot in the face by Nassau Police early Tuesday after charging at an officer’s vehicle with a knife in Westbury, police said.

Adrian Thompson’s parents told authorities he has been struggling with depression and may have been using drugs or sniffing glue at the time of the incident, Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said during a press briefing.

Thompson, whose LinkedIn page says he is a fourth-year medical student and that he earned a bachelor’s degree from Stony Brook University in 2020, is recovering at Nassau University Medical Center. He is charged with two counts of menacing a police officer, with additional charges still being determined.

Police at about 10 p.m. were responding to a report that Thompson was acting irrationally with a large knife and threatening to stab people near the intersection of Brush Hollow Road and 6th Street, Ryder said. When officers arrived, Thompson allegedly ran from behind bushes to their vehicle and smashed the passenger-side window with the knife, ABC7 New York reported.

The officer in the passenger seat fired two shots but missed both times, police said. When Thompson moved to the back of the vehicle, a second officer fired once, striking him in the face, Ryder said. The bullet entered one side of his jaw and exiting the other, authorities said.

The officers also went to the hospital to be treated for trauma.

Police described Thompson as well-educated and enrolled as a medical student at Columbia University. Investigators noted Thompson was involved in a prior incident on April 13, when he was allegedly acting irrationally and possibly sniffing glue as well.

_{Top: NUMC (Brian Harmon photo) and Adrian Thompson (LinkedIn).}