NYPD Officer Shot While Off-Duty, In Critical Condition: Police

BROOKLYN, NY — A New York police officer is in critical condition after he was shot in Brooklyn by a person who attempted to rob him while he was off-duty, according to authorities.

“Please keep this young officer in your prayers,” Commissioner Keechant Sewell said, according to a transcript of a press conference about the shooting, provided by the city. “He is currently fighting for his life.”

The officer had arranged over social media to buy a car from someone, and went with a relative to meet the person around 7 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of Ruby Street, police said.

When they arrived, a person displayed a firearm and announced a robbery, leading to an exchange of gunfire that left the officer injured, according to police. The suspect fled and the officer was taken to Brookdale hospital, police said.

“An officer conducting a simple errand and a dangerous person pulled out a firearm,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the press conference. “As we see so far and so often in the city, too many illegal guns are in the hands of bad people and doing bad things.”

The officer is a five-year veteran of the police department, is assigned to patrol, and has a wife and children, according to authorities. Newsday reported he is 26 years old and lives in Deer Park on Long Island.

“We can't keep going to hospital emergency rooms and asking for prayers,” said Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, at the press conference. “Yes, we need prayers, but we need more. We need our legislators to sit down now, understand that they were wrong. It's not a fantasy. It's devastation. It's real. It's humans. It's cops. It's families.”

Federal and state authorities are assisting police in the investigation, according to law enforcement. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-8477.