‘Cop-shooter’ bust
2 officers wounded in chaos
The suspect who allegedly opened fire at two cops in The Bronx on Thanksgiving Eve was arrested and charged on Saturday, police said.
Charlie Vasquez, 23, of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, faces two counts each of attempted murder, assault, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon (loaded firearm) and reckless endangerment and menacing, according to the NYPD.
Vasquez was taken into custody Wednesday night at St. Barnabas Hospital — where he was being treated after being shot once during the melee in Belmont, police and sources said. Vasquez is expected to survive, the NYPD said.
Vasquez has eight prior arrests, including at least one for allegedly pulling a shotgun on a 32-year-old male acquaintance during a squabble in Greenpoint, police sources said.
In that incident on Oct. 19, 2017, Vasquez cocked the shotgun and pointed it directly at his victim before running off, the sources said. He was caught shortly after and charged with criminal possession of a weapon (loaded firearm), menacing with a weapon and unlawful possession of marijuana, according to cops and sources.
The two NYPD cops were shot in The Bronx on Wednesday night while responding to a call of a person with a gun, police said.
The suspect opened fire at East 187th Street and Beaumont Avenue at around 8 p.m., police said. He was then shot by one of the wounded cops, police said.
The cops were in uniform when they arrived and spotted a person who matched a description of the suspect sitting on a stoop.
One of the officers, Robert Holmes, 31, an eight-year veteran, told the man to remove his hands from his pockets. The gunman then allegedly pulled out a Ruger handgun and opened fire, according to police.
The other officer — Alejandra Jacobs, a female Air Force reservist with one year on the job — was shot twice in the upper right arm but returned fire five times, hitting the suspect, cops said.
Holmes struggled with the suspect and wrestled him to the ground. That officer was shot in the armpit during the struggle.
Both cops were originally taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition.
Jacobs was discharged from the hospital on Thanksgiving. She said that she was feeling “good” after her ordeal.
Holmes was wheeled out of St. Barnabas on Friday afternoon to applause and salutes from other officers, including his partner, Jacobs.
“Within seconds, they are in a gun battle,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said of the Bronx gunfire at a press conference Wednesday night.
“We have two incredibly brave police officers doing their job,” he said. “And not complaining a bit right now, as they’re laying recovering in the hospital, eager to get back to work, and loving what they do serving the people in New York City.”
Shea called the suspect a “career criminal” and said the firearm he allegedly used was reported stolen last year in Georgia.