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2nd Man in Custody After Dramatic Police Shootout on Staten Island

Police recovered a hunting knife and a semi-automatic AR-15 near the wooded area, along with evidence of shells

What to Know

  • Police responded to the scene in Charleston after getting reports of gunshots and encountered two armed men
  • The men engaged police in gunfire; no officers were injured in the fray, but one suspect was wounded
  • Police said semi-automatic weapons were recovered at the scene and that at least one of the men was wearing a bulletproof vest

A second person of interest is in custody after a shootout with NYPD officers on Staten Island early Thursday, though authorities aren't sure if he's the "man in the brown jacket" who fled the scene of the gunfire, prompting a manhunt.

Police are questioning the person of interest, identified as 24-year-old Jonathan Derbyshire. They had been looking for a man, believed to be armed and dangerous, who fled the Androvette Street scene in Charleston where uniformed officers responded after getting calls about gunfire around 1 a.m.

When officers arrived, one suspect pointed a gun at them and ran into a wooded area as another suspect, identified as 24-year-old Patrick Allen, emerged from the side of a building and drew a 9mm Glock 26, police said.

The officers returned fire, hitting Allen "numerous times," including three times in his left leg and twice in his left arm, Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre said. The man was wearing a ballistic vest and may have been shot in the vest as well. He is expected to survive.

Police dispatch recordings captured the dramatic exchange. 

"I got one man down, shots fired," one of the officers says to the dispatcher. "I got another man running into the woods with a brown jacket. Send me aviation right now." 

Meanwhile, police recovered a hunting knife, three semi automatic weapons and one assault rifle near the wooded area, along with evidence of shells, authorities said. The guns were not licensed. 

Local and state police were on nearly every street in the neighborhood as multiple NYPD helicopters roared overhead just before dawn Thursday. 

Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan said it appears the men were "hanging out" and went into the woods to test-fire some guns. 

The NYPD said two officers were taken to Staten Island University Medical Center South with minor injuries. 

Derbyshire's former landlord, Michael Giammarino, told NBC 4 New York his former tenant is a "good kid."

"This is crazy, I can't believe it's him," he said. "It's a shocker." 

The police shootout comes a day after two deadly police-involved shootings took place over a matter of hours in Brooklyn — one in Canarsie and another in Prospect Heights

"I'm always concerned when it's an officer-involved shooting," said Police Commissioner Jimmy O'Neil. "It's the beginning of the year, and we will have to see how it plays out."

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