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Authorities later identified him as Antwan Whitlock, 35, of Union Township.
Whitlock remained hospitalized at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson as of Jan. 5.
The officer was treated at St. Joe's before being released.
SEE: Man Who Slashed Clifton Officer, Stabbed Himself At Route 3 HoJos ID'd
It began when three Clifton officers responded to a report of a guest having "mental health crisis" at the hotel on the highway's westbound side at 5:18 a.m., state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.
The officers first tried to talk with him through the closed door of the fourth-floor room where he was staying before they eventually forced their way in, Grewal said.
"Once the door was open, the officers had a brief interaction at the doorway with the man, who was armed with two knives," the attorney general said.
The man slashed an officer in the face as he ran into the hallway, prompting two officers to fire their weapons in his direction, Grewal said.
They missed as the suspect ran down the hall and through a fire door, Grewal said.
"He remained in that area of the hotel, armed with the two knives," the attorney general said.
A Passaic County SWAT team found the suspect in the fourth-floor hallway.
A SWAT team member tried firing a Taser at the suspect, who stabbed himself in the chest with one of the knives shortly after 7 a.m., Grewal said.
State law and his own guidelines require the attorney general's office to investigate police-involved shootings.
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