NYPD cop shot in the Bronx, 16-year-old arrested
A bullet went through the windshield of the shot officer’s car early Tuesday, police said.
An NYPD officer was shot and wounded in his police car in the Bronx early Tuesday – and an armed 16-year-old boy was busted nearby as the injured cop’s partner rushed him to the hospital, authorities said.
The cop – identified by police sources as Officer Paul Lee, a member of the 48th Precinct’s public safety team – was sitting in an unmarked police vehicle when he and his team spotted two men at the southwest corner of East 183rd Street and Prospect Avenue and pulled up to them, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig told reporters.
The duo started to run away — but then one of them turned and opened fire at the cops, police sources said.
“As [the officers] pull up, at least one male fires at least six times, striking the windshield and our officer who was seated in the passenger seat,” Essig said during a morning press conference.
Lee was shot in the left arm, “narrowly missing vital structures,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell told reporters.
All four officers got out of their car and each of them returned fire – but the shooter was not struck, cops said.
A 16-year-old boy was busted by other responding 48th Precinct cops “after a brief foot pursuit,” Essig said.
Video shows a suspect in custody at the scene as one cop can be heard saying, “Bring him over here. I want to look him in the face. Yeah, that’s the motherf—er. Yeah, motherf—er, we got you! We got you!”
More officers arrive after an NYPD cop was shot at East 183rd Street and Prospect Avenue in the Bronx on Jan. 17, 2023.
A .32 caliber weapon was recovered from the teen, according to the police official. Charges were pending, and cops could not immediately say whether he was the one who allegedly fired at the officer.
Cops were still looking for a man wearing all black who was with the teen
The wounded officer was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital by his partner and was listed in stable condition, police officials said.
“The police officer that was struck and shot still pursued the perpetrator,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch told reporters. “His partner pursued the perpetrator. Recognizing his partner was shot, he throws him in the car, drives, transmits descriptions, notifies the hospital.”
The suspect opened fire at an NYPD public safety team, hitting an officer in the arm.
“If he could have when he got to the hospital, he probably would have done the operation as well,” Lynch said. “That’s how calm and professional these police officers were during chaos.”
Seconds after the shooting – and shortly before cops arrested the teen – more shots rang out about 100 feet away on East 183rd Street, cops said. Two .380 shell casings were recovered at that scene and a suspected gunman who fled in a car was being sought, authorities said.
“Let me be clear, we will stop at nothing to ensure that the subjects involved in this shooting and the people who drive violence in this city will be brought to justice,” Sewell said.
The gun recovered at the scene.
The violence occurred in a “known gang location that has [had] problems in the past,” Essig said.
The teen suspect in the police shooting, however, is not listed in a gang database, police sources said.
He was last arrested in April for criminal possession of a weapon, according to the sources.
He has an active warrant for sexual abuse, issued in late October, the sources said.
Police said they are still looking for one other armed suspect.
In late May, he allegedly threatened to bomb a Bronx high school after an argument with staff, according to the sources.
His mother has filed two domestic complaints against him – one in early November for allegedly destroying his uncle’s items during an argument, the sources said.
In the other case, from late May, he allegedly took his mom’s car without permission and tussled with her when she tried to get the keys back, according to the sources.
In both cases, the mother simply wanted her son to get help or be evaluated at the hospital, according to the sources.
Lee is the first NYPD officer shot in 2023.
“I spoke with Officer Lee and his family and he’s proud to have done his job on the frontline to deal with the violence that we have witnessed, particularly in the borough of the Bronx,” Mayor Eric Adams told reporters from the hospital.
“Thanks to the police work of Officer Lee, we want to continue to do so,” Adams continued. “This emphasizes [that] too many young people have too many guns in their hands. And our job is to create a pathway to stop that and to ensure that we remove these guns on our streets.”
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