A man stabbed his girlfriend with a 46-inch sword, stuffing her in the closet of his Queens apartment before calling 911 to report a robbery, New York authorities said Wednesday. Peter Ikonomou, 37, had no history of domestic violence against his former partner, Mindy Singer. However, Ikonomou appeared to be under the influence of drugs, according to his mother, who had stopped by his home to check on him. His mother said he slammed the door in her face, ran onto the balcony, and screamed that he had killed someone, according to sources in law enforcement. As the mother tried to get through the door, Ikonomou called the police and reported that “fake cops and locksmiths” were breaking into his apartment.

Officers responding to the scene were met by Ikonomou, who was holding a stick. He told them Singer was “in the closet,” according to police sources. Witnesses reported Ikonomou struggled as police attempted to load him into their vehicle. Shirtless and shoeless, one said, he kicked out a window from the back seat, crying out that he was having a heart attack. Singer’s aunt took to Facebook to say that her heart was broken. “My family and I will never recover from this nightmare,” the aunt wrote. “Words cannot do this outrageous tragedy justice.”