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Officer shoots 17-year-old boy after chase in Brooklyn: NYPD
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Aug 17, 2023
Modified Aug 17, 2023
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Courtesy X/@NYPDnews
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Aug 17, 2023
Modified Aug 17, 2023
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Police shot a 17-year-old boy in East Flatbush on Thursday afternoon after several officers responded to a fight, the NYPD said. He sustained an injury to his right thigh but is expected to survive, according to police.
At roughly 3:15 p.m. on Thursday, one NYPD sergeant and three other officers approached a group fighting around Kings Highway and Rockaway Parkway, police said.
“It was a group of about eight people, young adults, maybe teenagers, having a dispute on the street. A physical altercation,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a press conference on Thursday evening.
Officers “observed a female drop a bag next to a male on a razor scooter,” Chell said.
The 17-year-old boy on the razor scooter ran away as officers arrested the female, officers said. When asked, Chell did not say why she was arrested. Police did not recover the bag, nor specify what was in it.
“We’re gonna find out about that bag, we’re gonna find out what they were doing,” Chell said.
An officer then chased the teen, Chell said. The teen was about 15 feet away from the officer, according to Chell, when he dropped a gun.
The officer instructed the teen to leave the gun on the ground, according to Chell, but he reached to pick it up. That’s when the officer shot the teen, police said.
“Our officer, to defend himself, fires one round, striking the male in the right thigh,” Chell said at a press conference near the scene Thursday evening.
The officer immediately tried to stop the teen’s leg from bleeding. He was transported to a hospital and is expected to live, Chell said.
Chell called the East Flatbush neighborhood one of the NYPD’s “summer violence shooting zones,” where police “ask our officers to be proactive, to protect the community and to protect from street violence.”
He said the shooting was captured on body worn camera footage and the incident is under investigation.
This story has been updated.
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Bahar Ostadan
Bahar Ostadan covers the NYPD and public safety. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or message Bahar on Signal at 646-740-7335.
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