The New York City Police Department has announced an arrest Friday in connection to the shooting of a rookie officer in the city’s Queens borough.
Officials said that the shooting happened at around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in Jamaica, Queens, after a New York City bus driver flagged two police officers down and told them that there were two men involved in a dispute involving a bus seat. The officer, who is 22 years old, is in stable condition.
“He was where our communities tell us they want their officers to be. He was flagged down by a community member who needed help. He was taking police action then he was shot,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell told the media as a $10,000 reward was announced for information leading to the unidentified suspect’s arrest.
Police are expected to provide further details about the arrest at a press conference at 9:30 a.m. ET.
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The suspect wanted in Wednesday’s shooting has a tattoo on his hand with the name “Jocelyn,” police say. (NYPD)
Officials said when the two officers responded, the suspect allegedly pushed them while exiting the bus and fled the scene, running north.
When one of the police officers caught up with the suspect, a brief struggle took place, followed by the suspect allegedly firing a shot which struck near the officer’s right hip, officials said.
The other police officer on the scene fired his gun twice, but it’s not known if the suspect was struck.
After the shooting, the suspect fled again into a parking garage and abandoned a black jacket, mask and sweatshirt he had been wearing, before surveillance footage captured him walking away from the area in a white shirt and black pants, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig told reporters Wednesday.
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Officials said that the shooting happened at around 3:30 p.m. in Jamaica, Queens after an MTA driver flagged two police officers down and told them that there were two men involved in a dispute involving a bus seat, according to FOX 5. (Citizen App)
Eissig said two discharged shell casings consistent with police department ammunition were recovered at the scene of the shooting, along with 1 casing of undetermined caliber.
The officer who was injured was taken to Jamaica Hospital and is in stable condition.
Sewell praised the wounded officer’s partner, describing him as a fellow rookie who “did not hesitate to come to the aid of his fellow officer.”
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“While he was running from a police officer and shooting at police officers there were children along that shopping corridor,” Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York President Pat Lynch said Wednesday. “There were people that were just going about their lives… they had no regard for those people.”
The officer shot had only been a New York City police officer for three months, officials also said.
Fox News’ Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.
