NYPD: Two city cops shot, wounded in the Bronx
Two NYPD officers were shot and wounded Wednesday night in the Bronx, authorities said. Credit: Craig Ruttle
Two NYPD officers were shot and wounded in a Bronx gunfight Wednesday night with a suspect who was also injured and in police custody, authorities said.
The shooting began within seconds after officers from the 48th Precinct approached a man sitting on the steps of a residence on Beaumont Ave, said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea late Wednesday.
Earlier, a 911 caller had reported someone at the residence had a firearm. As an eight-year veteran officer opened the front gate about 8 p.m. to speak with the suspect, the man pulled out a handgun and opened fire, Shea said at St. Barnabas Hospital, where both officers and the suspect were treated.
"As they walk up, they immediately encounter this individual and there is a gunbattle," Shea said, with Mayor Bill de Blasio and other NYPD and city officials nearby. "A female officer was shot twice. … she returned fire five times, striking the assailant."
The other officer was hit underneath his left armpit, Shea said.
"The bullet came out of his left chest, within inches of a much different outcome," the commissioner said holding up the officer's shirt, a bullet hole visible.
The suspect's gun was stolen in Georgia and "made its way to New York City to cause carnage on our streets," he said.
Both officers were in stable condition, while the unidentified suspect, 23, was listed in serious condition, according to an NYPD spokesman.
Shea held up a photograph of what appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun he said the suspect fired at the cops.
"This individual is a career criminal with far too many arrests," he said.
Separately, an NYPD officer in Brooklyn's 69th Precinct was dragged by a vehicle Wednesday night after he approached about possibly stolen license plates and the driver sped off, police said. The officer suffered an ankle injury and facial abrasions, according to police.
The suspect's vehicle then crashed, and the driver and a passenger ran from the scene, police said. Officers were continuing to search for the suspects late Wednesday, according to police.
With Matthew Chayes
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
