Police officers shot a 24-year-old man dead during a shootout in the Bronx early on Sunday morning, police reported.
Charges are now pending against the man’s 45-year-old father, who allegedly fired shots at the officers seconds after his son was mortally wounded.
Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes outlined the preliminary details in the shooting investigation during an early morning press conference near the corner of East 180th Street and Valentine Avenue in Fordham Heights, just steps away from where the trouble began.
According to Holmes, the father and son became embroiled in a dispute with a group of men at about 4:15 a.m. on Aug. 29 in front of a grocery store at 2080 Valentine Ave.
The argument quickly devolved into a physical dispute, Holmes said, during which the 24-year-old man pulled out a gun and began firing shots. No group members were known to have been injured, sources said.
The shooting occurred around the corner from the 46th Precinct stationhouse on East 181st Street. Holmes said that two officers, who just went off-duty after completing their shifts, heard the shots, ran to the location and “engaged the suspects.”
“The 24-year-old man fired several times at the officers. The officers returned fire, which struck the 24-year-old man in the torso,” Holmes said. “The 45-year-old man then picked up the injured suspect’s gun and fired several rounds at the officers.”
The officers were not injured in the shootout, Holmes said. Other responding officers took the 45-year-old man into custody without further incident.
Meanwhile, Holmes reported, officers immediately rendered aid to the wounded 24-year-old man. EMS rushed him to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police have withheld his identity, pending the ongoing investigation.
The two off-duty officers involved in the shootout were taken to Jacobi Hospital for observation, Holmes said.
The case is now being investigated by the NYPD Force Investigation Division, which probes all shootings involving police officers.
Watch as NYPD executives provide an update to the police involved shooting in the @nypd46pct from earlier this morning. https://t.co/e8m8OZdGTH
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) August 29, 2021
