Photos by Stacie Joy
Updated 3/25: ABC 7 has an update here on the suspect, 20-year-old Richard Mendez, who allegedly had threatened his brother with a gun.
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A 20-year-old man is in custody tonight after shooting at a police cruiser on Fourth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D, according to published reports
Per CBS 2, "officers in a marked police car spotted the suspect waving a firearm." He then allegedly fired at the vehicle, striking it several times. The officers also reportedly returned fire.
NBC 4's account of the story said the suspect "was ... menacing people with a gun" before the encounter with the NYPD near 330 E. Fourth St.
There were originally reports on the Citizen app that the officers sustained unspecified injuries. CBS 2 reported that "the officers were taken to a local hospital to be treated for ringing in their ears."
According to the Post, the man was menacing his brother with a gun. It wasn't immediately clear if the suspect shot at the officers during the confrontation.
Per the paper: "The suspect's brother was also arrested for an alleged robbery from Wednesday, according to sources."
5 comments:
There is a reason why I deleted the Citizen app from my mobile. Too many scary things are happening around us. I live in this area and find what happened terrifying. I hope the injured officers will be fine.
There were definitely a 3 or 4 very audible gunshots. Afterwards, the cops were telling people "the shooter" was arrested and the gun was recovered. So I assume that does mean that he shot at least once.
When is the Police Department going to crack down on illegal gun trafficking? In many neighborhoods, including the East Village, it's just too easy to buy an illegal gun. Too many teenage kids know where to buy an illegal gun. The City is saturated with them. I know. I've been held up at gunpoint.
The NYPD originally claimed Mendez shot at them, which news reported uncritically.
The updated story is that Mendez pointed a gun at his brother and police shot at him. https://abc7ny.com/east-village-nyc-crime-shots-fired-nypd-officers/13002601/
It should surprise nobody that the NYPD's account cannot be trusted.
Joe B, It would not surprise me that the initial NYPD report could have been faulty. I would expect that there is a lot of confusion in the midst of an incident like that. Wearing the uniform already amounts to having a target on your back. When confronting an armed and threatening suspect and having to fire would make me, for a time, unclear as to the exact sequence of events in that moment. Let's be glad an armed person was successfully taken into custody and no one was badly injured. It looks to me like pretty good police work was done.
Bobby G (not the same one in the earlier comment)
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