Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Four Cops Shot By Man Barricaded In Brooklyn Apartment
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 8, 2012
Modified Apr 8, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Gothamist
View all 4
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 8, 2012
Modified Apr 8, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Early this morning, NYPD Emergency Service Unit officers were shot by a man who had barricaded himself—as well as his pregnant girlfriend and their baby—in a Brooklyn apartment. Mayor Bloomberg visited the officers, who are expected to survive, and said that when the girlfriend "managed to escape with the baby, the officers began to enter and the suspect opened fire. The officers returned fire, striking the suspect who is currently being treated at Kings County Hospital." The officers, whose injuries range from being grazed in the face to being shot twice in the leg, are expected to survive. And police say they found other illegal guns in the suspect's apartment.
The suspect, Nakwon Foxworth, had apparently argued with movers at his 3301 Nostrand Avenue apartment building's lobby late last night. Foxworth allegedly showed a gun, prompting one mover to call 911 and say, "He’s got a gun... he’s got a gun." Police Commissioner Kelly described what happened next:
The Anti-Crime officers located the superintendent in a nearby building and established that Foxworth resided in apartment 6-K. The officers went to the apartment, knocked on the door, but got no answer. However, they were able to establish by looking through the peephole that there was a man, woman and child inside.
Receiving no response, they concluded that the woman and child were being held hostage and summoned Emergency Service Officers and hostage negotiators. An ESU and the hostage negotiation team arrived and were in the process of taking up positions outside of the apartment when the woman suddenly opened the door and fled the apartment with the baby in her arms.
She told the officers that Foxworth had been holding her hostage and was armed. As the six-man Emergency Service team entered, they were immediately fired upon by Foxworth. He had emerged from a bedroom, firing a nine-millimeter Browning semi-automatic.
He fired 12 times striking Detective Michael Keenan in his left calf, Detective Kenneth Ayala in the thigh and foot and Police Officer Matthew Granahan in his left calf. Captain Al Pizzano also sustained a graze wound to his face.
The gunfight occurred in close quarters, with the assailant and the officers no more than 10 feet apart. Although hit, Detective Ayala and Officer Granahan returned fire striking Foxworth in the abdomen.
A third ESU officer also fired at Foxworth. Foxworth used a 9mm gun when shooting at the police and inside the apartment, the police found what Kelly called a "cache of weapons that speaks volumes about illegal guns," saying the 9mm was"part of a multiple-gun purchase in Wilmington, North Carolina, a sawed-off military style assault rifle equipped with a scope that had been stolen from Florida and a defaced, 22-caliber revolver. Foxworth had a total of 50 rounds for his mini-14 assault weapon - the same ammunition used by the U.S. military in M-4 and M-16 rifles." He added that Foxworth "was released from prison in 2010, having served 10 years, for attempted murder and robbery, and selling drugs in prison. He previously served two years for attempted murder."
It's unclear why Foxworth got into the fight with the movers. A resident of the building said cops told him to get out, "They said it could turn violent." And Bloomberg blasted the proliferation of illegal guns, "We have now had eight - that’s correct, eight - members of the department shot in the last four months. And this is the second time in the last 24 hours police have been fired upon by armed assailants. All the shootings have a disgraceful fact in common: all were committed with illegal guns that came from out of state. And that is the case with nearly every shooting in our city. We got very lucky tonight, with no life-threatening injuries to officers or innocent bystanders. But sometimes, as you remember, we aren’t so lucky, as we saw with the murder of Police Officer Peter Figoski in December. We will continue to do everything that we can take illegal weapons off our streets, but until Congress wakes up and finds some courage to stand up to the gun lobby, illegal guns will continue to end up in the hands of dangerous people like tonight’s shooter, who had a small arsenal of illegal guns."
Tagged
brooklyn
gun violence
illegal gun
nakwon foxworth
nostrand avenue
officer shot
police shooting
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Forest Hills Stadium can keep its concerts under deal with neighbors
Neighbors had complained of traffic and loud concerts for years.
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 22, 2026
NYC Council to grill Mamdani officials on collapsed Hunts Point Produce Market deal
Council Speaker Julie Menin called the $650 million plan "mission critical."
By
Elizabeth Kim
News
NYC Council to grill Mamdani officials on collapsed Hunts Point Produce Market deal
Council Speaker Julie Menin called the $650 million plan "mission critical."
By
Elizabeth Kim
NYPD arrests 17-year-old in fatal Midtown subway platform shooting
By
Charles Lane
Ex-Adams aide accused of pocketing kickbacks from community program funds
By
Samantha Max
MTA to begin 6-year project to upgrade signal tech on A and C lines in Brooklyn and Queens
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .