The brother of the NYPD officer who was shot in the head and critically wounded during an attempted robbery of a Facebook Marketplace thief in Brooklyn reportedly took the officer’s gun and shot the offender, police sources said.
The pursuit of the criminal continued Sunday evening, who shot the 26-year-old Brooklyn police officer at 7:00 p.m. Saturday.
For their part, the victim’s family and NYPD colleagues stood vigil at Brookdale University Hospital, waiting for him to recover from his injuries.
The officer and his relative, described as a brother or brother-in-law, had proposed to purchase a Honda Pilot for S20,000 via Facebook Marketplace, sources stated. However, when they arrived at Ruby Street near Linden Boulevard in East New York, the robber told him to follow him into an alley.
The alleged vendor pulled out a gun, and that’s when the victim drew his service weapon. The suspect fired at least six shots, according to sources.
The man accompanying the officer, who was off-duty at the time, grabbed the gun from the wounded police officer and fired five shots at the robber but apparently missed him, the Daily News reported.
An anonymous witness had this to say, “They ran between the houses shooting,” he said. “I heard nine or 10 shots. They ran toward Dumont St., shooting at each other. It was a shootout.“
According to police sources, the offender drove north on Ruby Street and then crossed to the right onto S. Conduit Avenue.
The officer, struck by a headshot wound, was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital in critical condition.
It is unclear at this time whether the robber was traveling with an accomplice, and the officer’s brother or brother-in-law was too shaken to realize which side of the car the gunman went into, sources said.
The suspect left the scene empty-handed, intending to steal the $20,000 from the officer. The family member was not injured in the shooting.
The robber is described as a dark-skinned, heavily bearded man wearing a black sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. He fled in a black car with tinted windows, sources said.