A pair of suspects were being questioned Thursday in the robbery and shooting of an off-duty police officer who had just finished playing basketball with his family in East New York on Tuesday evening, authorities said.
The officer, 33-year-old Tramaine Oxley, was sitting in his Range Rover on Bradford Street after the game at about 10:30 p.m. when a pair of men jumped out of a dark BMW, said a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation.
The suspects, one armed with a gun, tried to open the driver side door of the Range Rover and grabbed cash and jewelry before running away, authorities said.
When Oxley, who is out on sick leave from a leg injury, and his family tried to drive away they got stuck in traffic and had to turn around, running into the suspects again on Linden Boulevard, near Bradford Street. The officer and his family drove away a second time only to come up against the robbers exchanging four rounds, said the NYPD’s Chief of Department James O’Neil.
Oxley was hit in the left forearm and grazed in the torso, the official said. He was taken to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in stable condition, police said.
There had been no charges as of Thursday aftenoon.
On Wednesday police had been reviewing a partial New York license plate number that starts with the letters “AA” belonging a dark 2006 BMW.
COP SHOT, or Citizens Outraged at Police Being Shot, put up a $10,000 reward for information on the suspects.
(With Newsday)
