(MAINNEWS) – An off-duty NYPD officer is in critical condition after he was shot in Brooklyn during an apparent robbery Saturday night, police sources told The Post.
The officer — a 26-year-old father of two — was shot in the head at 472 Ruby Street in East New York around 7 p.m., sources said.
Sources said the cop was trying to buy a car on Facebook marketplace when he was shot in what appears to be a botched holdup.
Paul Martinka
“I saw a person wearing a black hoodie, black top and gray sweats shooting, like he was ducking in front of a car outside my house,” neighbor Genesis, who called 911, told The Post. “It looked like he was shooting back and forth at someone.”
Paul Martinka
Paul Martinka
The officer appears to have fired at least one shot as the suspect ducked and fired at him from behind cars, sources said.
“[The suspect] kept shooting…After the last shot, I saw him running towards McDonalds and I looked away,” Genesis said.
She said she didn’t see anyone get struck but later “saw someone get taken away in a stretcher,” with a gunshot wound to the head.
Fifteen shots in total were recorded by the department’s ShotSpotter technology, sources said.
The officer was transported to Brookdale Hospital and was in critical condition, sources said. He has been a member of the force since 2017, police records show.
The suspect, described as a bearded man in his 20s, fled the scene in a dark vehicle with tinted windows, according to police sources. He was wearing a black sweatshirt and gray sweatpants, sources said.
NYPD helicopters were in the area looking for the suspect.
Police are investigating whether the shooting was connected to other Facebook marketplace robberies, according to sources.
By Steven Vago,Larry Celona,Tina Moore and Patrick Reilly
