A member of the NYPD press office was charged with allegedly shooting a man in New Jersey with his department-issued gun during a road rage incident last month, prosecutors said.
Hieu Tran, 27, an officer assigned as a photographer with the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (DCPI) office, is facing attempted murder charges in the Garden State for the May 17 incident along Route 73 and Cooper Road in Camden County.
Police believe the shooting resulted from a traffic collision involving Tran and the victim, a 30-year-old man.
According to the Camden County Prosecutor, police discovered a 30-year-old man with a gunshot wound at around 11:13 p.m. on May 17 that night after responding to a multi-vehicle collision. The victim was rushed to Cooper University Hospital, where he remains nearly a month later.
Prosecutors say they worked with police to trace the ballistics to Tran’s service weapon and utilized cell phone records and video surveillance to cuff Tran.
Tran appeared in court on Friday morning shortly after being cuffed earlier that day. Standing with his head down, appearing sad, he was ordered extradited to New Jersey to face arraignment and prosecution.
Tran previously worked in the 28th Precinct, from where several new officers had been transferred to DCPI in recent months.
He reportedly performed social media duties for the NYPD and was often seen with cameras slung around his neck taking photographs, most notably seen documenting mass arrests at Columbia University on April 30.
According to an NYPD spokesperson, Tran has been suspended pending prosecution.
