An officer with the New York Police Department was critically wounded after being shot in the face on Saturday in Queens, the fifth NYPD officer shot in as many months.
A suspect was in custody, police said.
NYPD Detective Brian Sessa confirmed the shooting to HuffPost.
New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton identified the officer as Brian Moore, 25, at a news conference late Saturday night from Jamaica Hospital, where Moore was being treated. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who joined Bratton, called the shooting an "unconscionable act of violence" and "a reminder of the dangers that all of our officers face every single day," according to the New York Times.
on-duty officer was shot while sitting with another anti-crime officer in an unmarked car near the intersection of 212th Street and 104th Avenue in Queens Village, according to NY1. The officers were attempting to stop a man on foot, authorities said. It was unclear what the stop was about, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bratton said that the officers noticed the man was "adjusting an object in his waistband," as they approached him. The suspect then pulled a weapon and fired three shots, NY1 reported.
The officer was taken by police to Jamaica Hospital where he was in critical but stable condition, NYPD spokesperson Stephen Davis told the New York Times. The officer appeared to have been shot in the cheek, the bullet exiting out the side of his head, authorities said. The official said the officer was expected to survive, according to the Times.
WABC reported that the male suspect fled on foot, prompting a large manhunt with helicopters flying above the scene.
Bratton said a 35-year-old suspect, Demetrius Blackwell, had been taken into custody late Saturday evening. Blackwell had been arrested before, he said. "He lived on the block where the shooting was," the official said. "They found him hiding in a house that was not his own. He ran through the rear yards," a law enforcement source told the Times.
Saturday's shooting comes less than six months after the fatal shooting of two NYPD officers in Brooklyn, and amid
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.