SHOT COP TWIST
New details emerged Sunday in the robbery that left an off-duty NYPD cop clinging to life, including how the victim’s relative pulled the gravely wounded officer’s gun from his holster to return fire.
Cops are still hunting the gunman who ambushed the officer in Brooklyn on Saturday evening, sources said.
The cop, a 26-year-old father of two whose name has not been officially released, arrived at the East New York address with his brother-inlaw at around 7 p.m., hoping to buy a Honda Pilot that had been listed on Facebook Marketplace, the sources said.
The two, who had cash on them, were lured down a dark driveway at 472 Ruby St. supposedly to check out the vehicle when the thug announced a stick-up, snarling, “Give me your money!” police and other sources said.
Struck in head
The thief then fired a 9 mm handgun at least five times, hitting the officer once in the left side of his head, with the bullet exiting the back, the sources said. His brotherin-law responded by pulling the wounded cop’s gun from his holster and shooting at the crook at least six times, the sources said.
It is unclear if the relative struck the gunman, who jumped into the driver’s seat of a waiting black BMW SUV and sped off, sources said.
Cops responding to 911 calls found the five-year veteran of the force lying on his back on the ground with his NYPD shield and service weapon nearby.
He was placed on life support at Brookdale Hospital.
On Sunday night, more than two dozen clergy members and faith leaders gathered at the hospital to denounce the “senseless” gun violence that downed the Brooklyn cop.
“We want to make it very clear that this is not a mayor’s problem, this is a problem of crime,” said Bishop Gerald Seabrooks, president of the United Clergy Coalition.
Investigators believe the same criminal was behind a similar incident on the same block Jan. 13. In that robbery, the victim showed up at Dumont Avenue and Ruby Street at around 7:10 p.m. that Friday to make a Facebook Marketplace purchase when the crook pulled a gun and said, “I know you brought money,” according to the sources.
The robber made off with $18,000, the sources said.
“We will catch the person responsible for this act,” Mayor Adams told reporters at the hospital Saturday night. “An officer conducting a simple errand and a dangerous person pulled out a firearm.
“As we see so often in this city, too many illegal guns are in the hands of bad people and doing bad things,” the mayor said.
Two other unrelated Facebook Marketplace ambushes took place in the city last year, including the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old Rockland County man who responded to an ad for a motorcycle in The Bronx in May.