SAVED ONLY BY HIS VEST
Cop shot in B’klyn
An NYPD cop was shot in Brooklyn Thursday by a man with a rifle — and survived thanks to his bulletproof vest, which stopped two rounds that hit his chest, police said.
Officer Hart Nguyen, of the 75th Precinct, was also wounded in the arm during the 5 p.m. shooting at a house on Ridgewood Avenue near Essex Street in Cypress Hills, where he and his partner had responded to a call of an emotionally disturbed person, according to police.
Nguyen was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and was expected to be OK.
“This young man was definitely saved by his vest,” Mayor de Blasio said at a press conference Thursday night.
The shooter — identified as Andy Sookdeo, 29 — wound up fatally shooting himself before police could get to him, according to officials.
It was initially unclear whether anyone else had been in the home while Sookdeo was holed up there, but sources said it was the man’s mother who had called the police.
“The mother called 911 because her son’s an EDP,” an emotionally disturbed person, a source said. “When [the officer] gets into the apartment, he [the suspect] comes out of the bedroom shooting.”
Police officials later said the mother had told cops that Sookdeo was acting erratically, but that he was not armed or violent.
Worried he would flee, Nguyen’s partner posted up at the back of the home while Nguyen went in.
“As [Nguyen] approached a rear bedroom, the suspect fired several shots,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. “The officer did not return fire.”
Dozens of NYPD officers flooded the area after the shooting, along with state troopers, K9 units and helicopters.
It was not clear what kind of weapon Sookdeo used to shoot Nguyen, but authorities recovered two guns at the scene. Sources said one appeared to be a rifle of some sort.
Relatives told The Post that Sookdeo lived with his parents at the home and rarely spoke.
“He was a good kid, man. He don’t drink, don’t smoke. No drugs,” said a cousin, David Bridgemohan, who noted that Sookdeo had just bought a “nice new BMW” and was studying to be an electrician.
Nguyen, who lives in Brooklyn, has been on the force for a little more than two years.
“He’s a brave young man,” O’Neill said, adding that “he’s got a good spirit.”
“He will be fine,” the commissioner said. “He was up and talking to us.”