An NYPD cop was shot three times Wednesday night in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, but is expected to live after his bulletproof vest protected his body, according to Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
The officer is married and lives on Long Island, according to an NYPD spokesman.
The man who shot him, a 26-year-old accused gang member, was struck in the leg in a return of gunfire by the cop and another officer, and is also expected to live, Shea said.
The cop, who is married, was at least the second within about five months to be struck in the bulletproof vest: On Christmas Eve, Officer Connor Boalick of Long Island was saved by his vest before a bullet could penetrate through to the skin.
Speaking Thursday morning at a news conference at Kings County Hospital, where the injured officer was being treated, Shea said the incident followed a shooting four minutes earlier at Madison Street and Broadway at about 11:11 p.m. A man ran up to a white SUV and opened fire on its three occupants, all accused gang members — killing one, injuring another, and leaving another unhurt, based on video at the scene. The vehicle crashed a short distance away, Shea said.
The shooting of the cop then occurred five blocks away. The two officers and a sergeant, in uniform but in an unmarked vehicle, saw a man walking briskly on the side of Saratoga Park. The officers got out of the vehicle to investigate, and “immediately, the male pulls a firearm, turns on the officers and begins to shoot,” Shea said.
One cop fired 12 rounds. Another fired nine, and he is struck three times — in the vest, in the right leg, and in the buttocks, Shea said.
The man was detained and his firearm recovered. The sergeant did not fire, Shea said.
“Again, we find ourselves in the hospital in the middle of the night, with another example of our brave officers out there fighting crime, keeping New Yorkers safe. It’s by the grace of God that we are not about to start planning for a second funeral in one month,” Shea said, in an apparent reference to the death of Anastasios Tsakos, an NYPD cop from East Northport who died late last month while directing traffic after he was struck by an alleged drunk driver.
Shea said the police are investigating whether the shooting of the men in the SUV and the shooting of the cop are related.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, speaking at the news conference, said the cop would make a full recovery. Of the suspected shooter, de Blasio said: “This individual had done — from everything we are seeing at this moment — had done harm and would have done more harm and then turned on our officers.”
Neither the suspected shooter nor the cops were named publicly. The suspect could not be reached for comment.
