Man arrested in shooting of fed officer in Brooklyn

A Brooklyn man was nabbed Friday for allegedly sparking a wild shootout last month with an off-duty U.S. Park Police officer that left another man dead.

John Shortt started the action on Sept. 18 around 3:20 a.m. by approaching the officer and his 25-year-old companion outside the CZ Lounge in East Flatbush with his gun raised, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday.

When the officer saw Shortt, he drew his own firearm, announced he was with law enforcement and opened fire. The officer told investigators he suspected Shortt was a robber.

Shortt was shot and fled the scene. Meanwhile, two other men a car-length away drew their own guns, confronting the officer, prosecutors wrote.

The park cop believed that the two other men, identified as Tyshawn Whidbee and Joshua Cooper, might also be part of a robbery plan, according to the complaint.

Whidbee shot at the officer and woman, striking them both, according to officials.

The cop was hit six times — in the arm, stomach, chest and thigh. His companion was struck in the chest.

Despite his injuries, the cop followed

Whidbee and Cooper around the corner, where the shootout continued. That’s where the officer shot Cooper, 31, hitting him in the legs, according to the complaint.

Surveillance images captured the chaos, from the moment Shortt allegedly pulled the gun on the officer, to Whidbee dragging Cooper’s bloodied body and placing him in a gray sedan bound for Kings County Hospital.

Three days later, Cooper died of his injuries. His mother insisted that Cooper was not involved in the shooting.

“My son was standing outside the club chatting with the officer. He was trying to protect my son. They were trying to rob the officer,” said Bonnie Cooper, 57.

Whidbee was charged earlier this week in Brooklyn Federal Court for being a felon in possession of a weapon. Cops found the 9-mm. gun he allegedly used in a dumpster near the scene, the complaint says.

The officer’s wounds required the removal of one of his kidneys and part of his colon. The woman he was with survived the gunfight.

In an unusual twist, the FBI agent who signed the complaint, Christopher Harper, was injured in a gunfight in Brooklyn in 2018.