CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A police officer shot and killed a man who was stabbing his ex-wife’s 13-year-old daughter in a North Carolina home, authorities said.

The teenager was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries Saturday, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

The girl’s mother fled after the man forced his way into the Charlotte home, police said in a news release. Officers found the man holding the girl at knifepoint and tried to “de-escalate the situation” before he stabbed her, the release said.

“They were met with something that horrific, to see a 13-year-old getting stabbed, and they were left with no choice” but to shoot the man, The Charlotte Observer quoted police Chief Johnny Jennings as saying. “The motive to stab a 13-year-old is something that is beyond comprehension for us.”

None of the officers were injured.

The names of the knife-wielding man, who died at the scene, and the officer who shot him weren’t immediately released.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigating and the officer will be placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure after a shooting.