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Teen And Officer Expected To Recover After Tuesday Gunshot
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Jan 19, 2022
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Steve Sanchez Photos / Shutterstock
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Jan 19, 2022
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A police officer and a 16-year-old were struck by a single bullet fired by the teenager during a confrontation in the Bronx Tuesday night, officials said. Both are expected to recover.
The shooting came after half a dozen uniformed officers noticed a “disorderly” group gathered outside a building in the Belmont section of the Bronx at 9:30 p.m., according to NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell.
When they approached, a 16-year-old member of the group allegedly stuck his hands in pockets, refusing to comply with orders to show his hands, police said.
A struggle broke out between the teenager and the officer, at which point the teenager’s gun went off, firing a single round that struck him in the groin and the officer in the leg, officials said. Both were hospitalized and expected to make a full recovery.
At a press conference late Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams said that New York City had become too permissive toward gun-carrying youth.
“We are making tactical errors in preventing the law enforcement communities from being able to rid our communities of guns,” he said. “There’s a clear signal on the streets that it is alright to carry a gun in the city of New York.”
The teenager, whose name has not been released, was previously arrested in May of 2020 for possession of a firearm, police said. He was charged as a juvenile and received probation last month. Both arrests were made by members of the public safety team that patrols the area.
Police said they recovered a 9mm handgun that was reported stolen from South Carolina in 2020.
Video shared to the Police Benevolent Association’s Instagram account shows the officer leaving the hospital in a wheelchair, then getting up and walking on his own.
The incident is the second time that an officer has been shot since Adams took office on January 1st. During his first day, an NYPD officer was shot in the head by a bullet while sleeping in his car in East Harlem.
That officer underwent surgery to remove bullet fragments from his head and was released the next day.
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crime
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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