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Antwan Whitlock, 35, remained hospitalized Tuesday at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson following the Dec. 27 incident in Clifton.
He's charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and weapons possession and will be brought before a judge for a first appearance as soon as he's physically able.
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 Whitlock 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 [Whitlock], who was armed with two knives," the attorney general said.
Whitlock 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 he 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 Whitlock 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.
The officer who sustained a knife wound to his face was treated at St. Joseph’s and released, he said.
State law and his own guidelines require Grewal’s office to investigate police-involved shootings.
“The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time,” Grewal said Tuesday.
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