Crime & Safety
NYPD Officer From Massapequa Shot in Head
Man opens fire on cops in Queens Saturday evening, police say.
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An NYPD officer from Massapequa is in critical, but stable condition after being shot in the head on Saturday evening in Queens Village, according to multiple reports.
Officer Brian Moore, 25, is in a medically induced coma following surgery, according to the New York Post.
Moore was inside an unmarked car with his partner when they approached a man who was ”walking and adjusting an object in his waistband,” NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
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When the officers, assigned to the 105th Precinct’s anti-crime team and both in plain clothes, told the man to stop, the man opened fire on the officers, who were still inside their car near 104th Avenue and 212th Street.
Moore, who joined the NYPD in 2010, was struck in the face and rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. His partner, 30-year-old Erik Jansen, was not injured. The officers did not have the chance to return fire.
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Moore underwent surgery for more than four hours, but a source told the New York Post that he is “far from out of the woods.”
The alleged gunman, 35-year-old Demetrius Blackwell was arrested at a home near where the shooting occurred following a 90 minute manhunt. Blackwell is the cousin of former New York Giants cornerback Kory Blackwell and has nine prior arrests, including two for assaulting police officers, the New York Daily News reported.
Moore comes from a “police family,” Bratton said. The Long Islander’s father and uncle are retired NYPD sergeants.
“Our hearts are with his family, his loved ones – our hearts are with his extended family, the men and women of the NYPD,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press conference at the hospital Saturday night. “You know, coming from a police family, and seeing the devotion that so many members of his family had to this city – it was striking to be in the room with his family members and realizing this is a family that has been giving their all to the city now for over two generations.”
Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas also issued a statement on the shooting.
“Last night’s events serve as a grim reminder of how dangerous routine law enforcement work can be,” Singas said. “Officer Moore is the victim of a horrific act of cowardice -- all of us at the Nassau DA’s office are hoping for his quick recovery and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this critical time.”
Photo: Brian Moore/NYPD
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