Kin of shot off-duty cop now making critical medical decisions: Mayor Adams
Shattered kin of the off-duty cop shot during a botched Brooklyn robbery are making critical medical decisions about the gravely wounded officer, a grim-faced Mayor Eric Adams said Monday.
The development came as the ailing officer’s wife, appearing fatigued and shaken, and their two little kids returned to Brookdale Hospital to be with him.
No arrests have been made in the Saturday evening shooting, but cops found the killer’s getaway black BMW SUV abandoned at 129th Street and Park Avenue in Harlem in Manhattan on Sunday, police sources said.
On Monday, the NYPD offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman.
During an appearance Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Hizzoner said the officer – a married father of two who was lured to an East New York address Saturday evening in hopes of buying a car through Facebook Marketplace – remained hospitalized.
“We are lifting the family up in prayers,” Adams said. “Right now, the family is deciding decisions, and he is still in the care of the medical professionals.
“He was out of purchasing a car like many of us do in America,” the mayor said of the officer, whose identity has not been officially released. “He answered an ad, and he was looking to purchase a car when it appears as though something went terribly wrong.”
The 26-year-old cop was with his brother-in-law and hoping to buy a Honda Pilot that had been advertised online when the pair was lured down a dark driveway at 472 Ruby St. around 7 p.m., supposedly to check out the vehicle, police and sources said. They had $24,000 in cash on them, police sources said.
The armed suspect announced his stickup, snarling, “Give me your money,” according to cops and sources.
It’s not clear what happened next, but the suspect quickly fired his 9mm handgun at least five times, hitting the officer once in the left side of his head, with the bullet exiting the back, sources said.
His brother-in-law responded by pulling the ailing Finest’s gun from his holster and shot at the crook at least six times, sources said.
It wasn’t clear if the relative struck the suspect, who jumped into the driver’s seat of a waiting black BMW SUV and sped off, sources said.
Cops responding to 911 calls found the wounded officer — a five-year veteran of the force — lying on his back on the ground with his NYPD shield and service weapon nearby.
He was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he was placed on life support.
Cops have brought in food and toys for the cop’s little boy and girl on several occasions while keeping watch on the critically wounded officer.
Police confirmed his condition had not changed Monday morning.
The mayor says he is willing to bet the gunman is a repeat offender.
“I bet you he has an extensive criminal record,” Adams told the talk show. “I bet he’s one of the 1,700 people who are extremely violent in our city. And that is why we’re pushing for real recidivist reform, to make sure we take dangerous people off the street.”
“We removed thousands of guns off the street last year. But we have to deal with the dangerous people who have these guns.”
Investigators believe the same criminal was behind a similar incident on the same block Jan. 13, during which another man was robbed of $18,000 at gunpoint in a similar Facebook Marketplace ruse.
The NYPD urged anyone with information about the shooter to call the department’s tips hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or DM @NYPDTips.
Additional reporting by Kevin Sheehan
