Off-Duty NYPD Officer in Critical Condition After Being Shot While Attempting to Purchase Vehicle

A 26-year-old off-duty New York City police officer is in critical condition after being shot during an attempted robbery in Brooklyn on Saturday evening, officials said.

Around 7 p.m., the off-duty officer was shot near 472 Ruby Street while trying to buy a vehicle from someone he had met online, NYPD Assistant Chief Michael Baldassano revealed during a press conference.

According to authorities, the officer arrived with a member of his family at the designated meeting place, and shortly after, the suspect allegedly “displayed a gun and announced a robbery,” leading to “an exchange of gunfire” in which the officer was hit. 

Sources say the officer sustained a gunshot wound to his head, CBS News reported.

NBC New York reported that the relative who accompanied the officer to the meeting was his brother:

NYPD officials said the officer and his brother were in the process of buying a car after a deal made on social media when the purported seller drew guns and said it was a robbery, leading to the exchange of gunfire. After the cop went down, sources said his brother picked up his gun and returned fire at the seller.

The officer was taken to Brookdale Hospital for treatment, where according to Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, he is now “fighting for his life.” 

Sewell described the officer as a “five-year veteran of the NYPD assigned to patrol.” 

Mayor Eric Adams, who was present at the press conference, indicated that the officer is married and has children.

Pat Lynch, the president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, connected the shooting to the city’s broader crime problem and argued that policymakers have failed to marshal an adequate response. 

“You know, for some time now, we’ve heard our legislators talk about crime as if it’s a fantasy, it’s not real, talk about it as if it’s just numbers on a page, when in reality it’s human lives,” he said at the press conference. “You want to see reality? Look at the devastation that those rounds caused to that young man’s body. Listen to the cries of a wife, a father, a mother, their children. That’s reality. It’s causing devastation. This has to end.”

Authorities are investigating the possibility that this incident “may be linked to similar recent robberies,” per NBC New York. The suspect is still at large, per CBS News, and the NYPD has asked the public to come forward with any information of relevance to this case.