By Michael Gartland
Source New York Daily News
A teenager shot in the head by a Bronx NYPD cop was driving forward straight at the officer, Mayor Adams said Tuesday, comparing the incident to a terrorist attack.
The teen, Luis Manuel-Monsato, is now in critical condition at Lincoln Hospital.
“When I received word of the shooting, I immediately said, ‘Let’s download the videos and let me see it,’” Adams said.
“There was not a backing up. There was just the opposite. The vehicle was driven directly at the police officer. And in the days where vehicles are used in terrorist attacks to drive into crowds, we’re dealing with a different moment in policing.”
Manuel-Monsato, 18, allegedly gunned his black Jeep SUV directly at an officer when he was stopped by cops who boxed his vehicle in with two unmarked NYPD patrol vehicles after the teen blew through several red lights on Boston Road, police said.
“As the officers exited their vehicle, the Jeep backed up and sped directly toward one officer who discharged his weapon at the vehicle, striking the driver,” NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said Sunday night.
While NYPD policy frowns on cops shooting at moving vehicles unless something other than the vehicle is being used as a weapon, there are exceptions. Adams said experts are now “dissecting” video of the incident to determine whether or not proper police procedures were followed.
Adams likened the situation to another incident where a car was used to intentionally mow down pedestrians.
In 2017, Sayfullo Saipov used a pick-up truck to smash into a school bus and run down pedestrians on a bike path along the West Side. Adams suggested it’s that type of vehicular attack that police must now be on guard against.
“I know many of us remember what happened on the West Side where you had a terrorist attempt, and an individual used a vehicle to mow down innocent people. So when you have individuals running red lights, individuals taking some intentional action, you have to make that intentional decision: is this a terrorist attack, is this an attempt to kill a police officer?” he said. “That’s what’s being analyzed right now.”
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