An off-duty officer from the New York City Police Department shot dead an alleged assailant during a moped ambush, with the second suspect still at large.
The incident unfolded just after 9.45 p.m. on Sunday outside a residential building in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, according to NYPD officials.
Two men approached the cop, each riding a moped, before one dismounted and asked whether the officer “knew an individual’s name,” before moving to display a firearm, Deputy Chief Eric Pagan, an executive officer of the Patrol Borough of Manhattan North, said in an early morning press conference Monday.
The off-duty NYPD officer responded by drawing his weapon, firing multiple rounds at a 30-year-old male suspect before the other man fled the location on his moped, Pagan said.
Officers provided life-saving measures at the scene before the wounded suspect was transported to New York City’s Health and Hospitals Harlem, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Pagan said that the officer is being treated at an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“Every day, the men and women of the NYPD answered the call to protect and serve, whether they are on or off duty,” Pagan said. “Tonight, we saw that firsthand.”
The incident is under investigation, with the second suspect still on the run Monday morning. The identities of the officer or the two suspects have not yet been revealed.
The NYPD shared a photograph on X just before 1 a.m. on Monday of a 9mm firearm that they say was recovered from the scene.
It marks the second fatal shooting involving an off-duty NYPD officer in 48 hours, after Jesse Campbell, 44, was gunned down on Friday on Staten Island.
Police responded to reports that a man with a gun had been seen behind a diner on Hyland Boulevard before fleeing the scene.
An off-duty officer spotted Campbell, who appeared to be holding a gun, a little while after and alerted an off-duty colleague, police said.
The NYPD said that the two officers repeatedly told Campbell to drop his weapon, but police said the suspect instead pointed it towards them.
One of the officers opened fire, striking Campbell with multiple rounds. The suspect was taken to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
An imitation firearm was recovered from the scene, police said.
