Police: Officers fatally shot man during alleged knife attack on mother in Northampton home

Southampton Town police officers fatally shot a 28-year-old man Sunday after he allegedly stabbed and slashed his mother more than 40 times inside a Northampton home while officers attempted to stop the attack, police officials said Monday.

The shooting occurred after police received two 911 calls from the woman at about 2:43 p.m. Sunday, May 10, reporting that her son was intoxicated and acting violently inside their residence on Toppings Drive, Southampton Town Police Chief James Kiernan said Monday at a press conference at police headquarters.

While officers were responding, the woman called 911 again and reported that her son was threatening her with a knife, police said.

Three Southampton Town police officers arrived moments later and found Steven Eastwood armed with a knife and standing over his mother, who was on the floor inside the home, Kiernan said.

The officers repeatedly ordered Eastwood to drop the knife, but he instead began advancing toward them while still armed, Kiernan said.

The officers backed away in an effort to draw Eastwood away from the victim and de-escalate the situation, the chief said. But Eastwood then turned his attention back to his mother and resumed attacking her, Kiernan said.

“Within moments he refocused his attention on the victim and returned to her and was actively stabbing and slashing at her body,” Southampton Town police said in a press release issued after the press conference.

Faced with “an ongoing deadly assault,” officers fired their service weapons, striking Eastwood and “immediately stopping the attack,” police said.

Eastwood was pronounced dead at the scene by Flanders Northampton Ambulance personnel, police said.

The woman sustained more than 40 apparent stab and slash wounds and was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for emergency treatment, police said. Kiernan said Monday that she was flown to the hospital by Suffolk County Police helicopter, underwent surgery Sunday night and remained unconscious Monday morning, though police had not received a further update on her condition.

Kiernan said the shooting occurred inside the house while Eastwood was actively attacking the victim.

Police said it appeared only Eastwood and his mother were inside the home at the time. Kiernan said Eastwood had lived with his mother on and off throughout his life, though he did not know whether Eastwood was living there or visiting at the time of the incident.

Kiernan said police had responded to “numerous incidents” at the Toppings Drive address over the past decade, including domestic incidents. He said there may have been an order of protection in the past, but there was no active order of protection at the time of Sunday’s incident.

Kiernan said he did not know whether Eastwood had a criminal history or a history of mental health issues.

The officers involved in the shooting were transported for trauma evaluation and support services after the incident, police said.

“As you can imagine, [they] experienced a very traumatic event,” Kiernan said. He said he spoke with the officers Sunday and they were “doing OK, but very shaken.”

The New York State Attorney General’s Office was notified, responded to the scene and is investigating, as required by state law. Detectives from the Suffolk County Police Department and Southampton Town Police Department are also involved in the investigation.

Kiernan said there is body camera footage of the incident and that he would work with the town attorney’s office to establish a protocol for making information available to the public.

Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore called the incident “an extremely tragic and violent event” at Monday’s press conference.

“Our concerns are first and foremost with the victim and her family, as she continues to fight through very serious injuries,” Moore said.

Southampton Town police thanked Westhampton Beach Police Department, Quogue Village Police Department, New York State Police, Flanders Northampton Ambulance, Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance and Suffolk County Police Department for their response and assistance.