Police shoot a man and allegedly threaten them with a knife at a car dealership in DeKalb, Illinois

DEKALB, Ill. (CBS) — Police officers shot and killed a man who they said threatened officers with a knife at a DeKalb car dealership.

This was the second incident in 24 hours in which police shot someone in DeKalb County, Illinois.

In the most recent incident that occurred in the city of DeKalb, police said a man stabbed someone and threatened officers with a knife when they fired.

The incident occurred at the showroom of Brian Bemis Toyota of DeKalb, 1890 Sycamore Rd., near Greenwood Acres Drive. Police said they were told the man with the knife came in and acted like he was looking at some vehicles – and then pulled out the gun out of nowhere.

Police said the man threatened several employees and stabbed the manager before officers arrived. The dispatcher's audio recordings revealed that the man had stabbed the Toyota dealer's manager in the hand and broken items inside.

DeKalb city officials said officers from two squads responded. When the officers entered the exhibition room, they quickly encountered the man.

“The individual was ordered to drop the weapon but did not do so, ordered again, failed to do so and then walked toward the officers,” DeKalb City Manager Bill Niklas said.

The investigation revealed that both officers fired several shots at the man – right in front of the employees.

“They were pretty shaken by the whole thing,” Niklas said.

CBS News Chicago was told the officer rendered aid to the victim, who was alert as he was taken to the hospital. He was later airlifted to a hospital in Rockford, where he was fighting for his life late Wednesday.

DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes pointed out that it only took the officer a split second to defuse the situation.

“We had to stop the threat that was in front of us and in this situation they had to stop someone who was actively attacking someone with a deadly weapon and would continue to do so despite police orders,” Barnes said.

Late Wednesday, the injured suspect's intent was unclear. Police were investigating late Wednesday to determine whether he was an angry customer or someone who wanted to randomly act out his anger at the car dealership.

What is clear is that the day's events were captured by cameras in the dealership and body cameras worn by police.

“It will be able to show exactly what happened,” Barnes said. “What will be shown is that our officers acted with the utmost professionalism.”

The earlier incident occurred in DeKalb Township outside the city of DeKalb. According to the sheriff's office, the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office was notified of a wanted vehicle in connection with a shooting in Rockford just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday.

Traffic cameras spotted the vehicle in Sycamore and a chase ensued. Officers used stop sticks to deflate the vehicle's tires and discovered the suspect was inside the car armed with a hostage, police said.

The hostage was released unharmed after a standoff that lasted several hours, but the suspect remained in the car and later fired several shots at the officers – who fired back, killing him, authorities said.