A murder suspect in Brooklyn was shot dead by police after leading cops on a pursuit through the borough Thursday afternoon, police officials said.
Officers fired as many as 19 shots at the perpetrator, according to Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, at the conclusion of the pursuit near the corner of Utica Avenue and Park Place in Weeksville just before 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 5. No officers were injured in the incident, and neither was a 3-year-old child found inside the suspect’s car amid the lethal chaos.
“The men and women of this department are extremely brave, and tonight, we were extremely lucky,” Maddrey said during a Dec. 5 press conference at the 77th Precinct stationhouse.
The dead suspect, whom police have not yet identified, had been wanted for a homicide in the 75th Precinct back in March of this year.
Maddrey outlined the preliminary details of the police-involved shooting. The trouble began at about 2:57 p.m. on Dec. 5 in Fort Greene, where police responded to a ShotSpotter activation within the Whitman Houses public housing complex at 81 North Portland Ave.
Officers from the 84th and 88th Precinct responded to the activation of the NYPD’s citywide network of sound sensors designed to pick up possible gunshots. Upon arriving at the scene in Fort Greene, Maddrey said the officers met a witness who described a shooting suspect inside a vehicle with an out-of state plate.
Within minutes, the chief noted, the officers spotted the suspect vehicle traveling near the corner of Fulton Street and Washington Avenue. Maddrey said the vehicle had three occupants: a female driver, the male suspect riding in the front passenger seat and, as the police would later discover, a 3-year-old child riding in the rear.
“At this point, the officer started pursuing the vehicle eastbound on Fulton Street,” Maddrey said, noting that the officers called for backup to help make a safe vehicle stop. Before long, however, the individuals in the car realized they were being tailed, and began speeding through local streets, with the officers following closely behind.
The pursuit ended at the Utica Avenue location when the suspects and their vehicle became stuck in traffic. The chief said the pursuing officers got out of their vehicles and approached with their guns drawn, spotting the male suspect attempting to get out of a partially blocked passenger door — while holding a handgun, which he then pointed at the cops.
It is not yet known whether the suspect fired any shots.
“The officers started firing,” Maddrey explained. “They are giving commands [to the suspects] to drop their weapons and show their hands.
The female driver, he said, wound up fleeing on foot from the car, having been struck twice in the right thigh by the gunfire. She was apprehended and hospitalized in stable condition.
Amid the shooting, Maddrey said, one of the officers spotted the child in the rear seat and began shouting, “Baby, baby!” at their colleagues, urging them to stop firing. The cops obliged the request and removed the 3-year-old child from the vehicle, who was not harmed.
The male suspect, meanwhile, suffered multiple gunshot wounds about his body. After the shooting stopped, Maddrey told reporters, officers placed him in handcuffs and rendered medical aid in an effort to save his life.
EMS rushed the man to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police have not yet released his identity, pending family notification.
Officers recovered the gun which the suspect allegedly pointed: a semi-automatic handgun with an extended ammunition clip.
The NYPD Force Investigation Division is now handling the case.
This is a developing story; check with amNY.com later for further updates.
