Detectives are still piecing together the events that led up to a Brooklyn police shooting on Saturday morning that left an SUV driver and a police officer hospitalized.
Deputy Chief John Chell, commanding officer of the NYPD Brooklyn North Detective Bureau, said that the driver initially struck the officer with their SUV, and was then wounded when the injured officer and their partner opened fire on them as they fled the scene of a crash site — the corner of Meeker and Vandervoort Avenues in Greenpoint.
The injured driver, a 21-year-old man, wound up at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center moments later with a bullet wound to his torso. He’s listed in stable condition at this time, with charges pending the results of the ongoing investigation.
Meanwhile, the officer whom the driver struck suffered injuries to their leg and knee and is now recovering.
Chell explained the preliminary details of the investigation at a press conference near the crash site, noting that the trouble began in Williamsburg at about 3:55 a.m. when officers from the 90th Precinct responded to a call regarding shots fired.
That call came in near the corner of Broadway and Lorimer Street. Chell said detectives are investigating whether those shots were connected to activity at a nearby club.
Officers from the 90th Precinct, while arriving at the location, observed three vehicles fleeing at a high rate of speed and going through a red light.
Moments later, Chell noted, police responded to the crash involving the three alleged vehicles at Meeker and Vandervoort Avenues in Greenpoint, near the entrance to the Kosciuszko Bridge and located within the 94th Precinct‘s confines.
In examining bodycam footage obtained from the responding officers, Chell said, police determined that two uniformed officers approached one of the vehicles, a white Honda CR-V SUV, and requested that the driver shut the vehicle off, and that all occupants exit.
“After approximately about one minute, the white car decides to flee, striking one of our officers, who subsequently discharged his firearm three times into that vehicle,” Chell said. He noted that the second officer also returned fire.
The struck officer was apparently able to fire at the vehicle despite having been thrown across the street, the chief noted.
The driver and CR-V fled the scene, but the driver wound up at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center about 20 minutes after the shooting, Chell noted.
Meanwhile, the struck officer and a second cop, who suffered a minor hand injury during the episode, were brought to local hospitals for treatment, police sources said.
Although police were able to locate the driver, both the CR-V and a second suspect vehicle involved in the incident — a dark-colored BMW — have yet to be located.
Chell explained that detectives are talking to a number of people involved in the incident as part of the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information regarding the incident can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
Watch as NYPD executives provide information on the police involved shooting in the @NYPD94Pct. https://t.co/qFTmFQiTas
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 28, 2022
