A fare-beater who walked through an open subway gate at the Sutter Ave. L subway station in Brooklyn and was armed with a knife triggered a harrowing showdown with police Sunday that left four injured by gunfire, including one NYPD officer struck by friendly fire, NYPD officials said.
Both the fare-beater and one of the passengers struck in the crossfire, a 49-year-old man, were in critical condition, police sources said.
Around 3 p.m., two police officers on transit detail at the station at Sutter Ave. and Van Sinderen Ave. in Brownsville saw the man go through the gate without paying and confronted him — only to have the scofflaw, who had a knife in his pocket, threaten the officers, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a news conference.
The cops opened fire when their Tasers didn’t work properly and failed to stop him. In the ensuing gunfire, one of the officers, the fare-beater and two others were hit in a rain of bullets, police officials said.
When asked if the injuries were the result of friendly fire, Maddrey said, “I don’t like to use that term friendly fire, but absolutely we believe at this time that our officers were the only ones who discharged weapons at this time.”
”So everyone that was struck this afternoon, we believe, was by our officers,” Maddrey continued.
EMS rushed the wounded cop, who was hit in his chest under his right armpit, to Brookdale University Hospital in stable condition, Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon said at the news conference at the hospital.
The suspect, 37, who allegedly told the officers, “I’m going to kill you if you don’t stop following me,” was hit multiple times in the chest, Maddrey said.
In addition to the police officer and the suspect, the 49-year-old man was shot in the head and a 26-year-old woman was grazed in the buttocks by a bullet, according to Maddrey. They and the suspect were taken to area hospitals, according to FDNY. The woman was in stable condition.
Sunday’s shooting marked the second time in less than 48 hours that NYPD officers fatally shot a suspect when their Tasers did not work. On Friday evening, police shot and killed a suspect wanted for three murders in Brooklyn in 2022 after he reportedly charged at them with a knife, cops said.
In Sunday’s incident, police discovered the man was carrying a knife when he refused to take his hands out of his pockets, Maddrey said. The officers then used their Tasers, but when they failed to stop the fare-beater, cops opened fire just as a train arrived on the platform and opened its doors, Maddrey said.
A video circulating on social media showed a chaotic scene as people on the elevated subway platform rushed to get away from the carnage. A man who is handcuffed can be seen in a pool of blood just inside the train doors. In a second video, the same man moans as police stand over him. The first video also shows a man in a red shirt immobile in a different subway car — half of his body in the train and half on the platform — with a red puddle around his head.
“They’re shooting recklessly. He hit his own partner,” a man can be heard saying in the video’s background.
The suspect has a long arrest record, according to Donlon.
“Officers were put in a very difficult situation to save themselves,” Maddrey said.
Another police officer was also injured and taken to the hospital, according to Brooklyn Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, though the officer wasn’t shot.
“2 NYPD Officers were injured earlier this afternoon by gunfire in Brownsville, Brooklyn. We are awaiting further details regarding the extent of injury and the condition of the officers. I offer my prayers for their safety and recovery and remind all New Yorkers to never forget the courage and bravery of our NYPD,” Brook-Krasny posted on X.
___________
©2024 New York Daily News.
Visit nydailynews.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
