What to Know
- An NYPD officer was shot in Brooklyn late Wednesday night following a shootout with a suspected gang member, law enforcement sources said.
- According to Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, police officers arrived at the scene near Madison and Broadway following a report of shots fired.
- The officers and the man exchanged gunfire. One of the officers was shot three times, once in the vest, leg and buttocks, Shea said. The gunman, a 26-year-old suspected gang member, was hit once in the leg and is in custody.
An NYPD officer was shot in Brooklyn late Wednesday night following a shootout with a suspected gang member, law enforcement sources said.
According to Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, police officers arrived at the scene near Madison and Broadway following a report of shots fired. He said preliminary investigation revealed that a gunman allegedly shot two of three men who were inside a white SUV at the location. The vehicle later crashed and officers found one occupant in critical condition and another injured.
The man who was critically injured later died, Shea said. All three occupants were known to the police. They have an extensive arrest history or are gang members with open gun cases, according to Shea.
Several blocks away from the scene, a police sergeant and two officers who were on patrol in an unmarked car encountered a man "walking briskly" near Saratoga Park. The patrol officers stopped to investigate and the man turned to shoot at the officers, Shea said.
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The officers and the man exchanged gunfire. A police source says an innocent bystander in a car was caught in the crossfire. The car was riddled with bullets but the bystander amazingly was not hit.
One of the officers was shot three times, once in the vest, leg and buttocks, Shea said at a news conference early Thursday morning. The officer was subsequently identified as Officer Brian McGurran.
McGurran, a 4-year veteran, walked out of Kings County Hospital on his own power and into a waiting vehicle, just after noon Thursday, among a thundering round of applause and cheers from fellow officers who lined up outside the hospital.
Mayor Bill de Blasio discussed the shooting during his daily press briefing Thursday saying: "We saw bravery and courage and heroism from the NYPD...Thank God that the officer that was hit by that [gunshot] fire is going to be OK..a heroic officer, out there protecting us; out there making sure that anyone that aims to do violence against a fellow New Yorker is stopped. He and his colleagues did stop this individual. This individual is now off the streets and I expect him to off the streets for a long, long time."
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De Blasio went on to say that the officers were prepositioned in that area due to previous incidents of violence.
PBA President Pat Lynch said that police are the solution in combating crime and not the problem -- alluding to the Defund the Police reform movement.
"Because of the actions of these police officers – what it proves that nonsense narrative that the police are the problem…it puts that to bed. We are the solution, what would have happened, would there be another crime scene...if these police so obviously didn't come upon and put themselves at risk and get shot?" he said during a joint press conference with the mayor and police commissioner.
The gunman, a 26-year-old suspected gang member, was hit once in the leg and is in custody. The suspect’s gun was recovered at the scene, police said. He has been identified as Boyce Hayward. Police sources said he had numerous past arrests for robbery, drugs and weapons possession.
At this point, it's still unclear if the incident involving the SUV was related to the police-involved shooting.
The NYPD said on Twitter to avoid the area near Macon Street and Howard Avenue in Bed-Stuy "due to a police investigation."
An investigation is ongoing.
