2 NYPD officers shot and injured in 12 hours in the Bronx – 1010WINS

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NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A second NYPD officer was shot early Sunday at a precinct stationhouse in the Bronx, hours after a gunman shot and wounded an officer in an “assassination attempt” on a patrol van in the same precinct, police said, adding that a man in custody is believed to be behind both attacks.

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“This was an attempt to assassinate police officers. We need to use that word,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a Sunday press conference at Lincoln Hospital, where both officers were taken.

The officer, a lieutenant who is a 15-year veteran of the force, was shot Sunday morning at the headquarters of the 41st police precinct shortly before 8 a.m., NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said at Sunday’s news conference. He said the injured officer was shot in the arm and was in stable condition at the hospital. The New York Post identified the lieutenant as Jose Gautreaux.

Shea said a man who was paroled from prison three years ago is believed to be behind both attacks this weekend.

“At this time we are confident he is the same person who attempted to assassinate our police officers last night,” Shea said.

Multiple reports have identified the suspect as Robert Williams, though the NYPD has not officially identified him.

Sources told 1010 WINS that the suspect’s girlfriend was taken into custody for questioning Sunday. The New York Post reports that the girlfriend, Liza Valdez, is a probationary communications technician with the NYPD.

Shea said the suspect is a career criminal who was convicted after carjacking a vehicle and getting into a gun fight with members of the NYPD in 2002. He was paroled from prison in 2017. He has one additional arrest since then and had a court appearance scheduled in the coming days. It’s unclear what that arrest was for.

Shea said the suspect walked in the entrance of the precinct headquarters and fired several rounds at point-blank range at uniformed officers and a civilian member of the NYPD. He said in the chaos, the lieutenant was shot in the arm as he exchanged gunfire with the suspect. None of the lieutenant’s bullets hit the suspect.

The suspect was quickly taken into custody by officers at the stationhouse.

“This coward immediately laid down, but only after he ran out of bullets,” Shea said.

Sources told 1010 WINS that the suspect was removed from the precinct around 2 p.m. to be evaluated at a hospital.

NYPD shooting suspect
NYPD

A 9mm handgun was recovered at the scene of the shooting. Shea said police are seeing if the gun matches the one used in Saturday’s attack.

On Sunday evening, a vigil was held outside the 41st precinct stationhouse where the shooting occurred.

Anyone with info call @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS{*} pic.twitter.com/7YZdEaKMvh— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) February 9, 2020

Two security camera videos, posted on social media, captured the shooting. In one of them, a man is seen sauntering into the precinct house lobby, before briefly disappearing off screen. Then, he rushes into a side room with his arm extended, as if pointing a gun, as two people inside run away. He turns and is headed back into the lobby when he looks behind him and falls suddenly, face first on the ground.

In another video from a different angle, an officer in the precinct lobby is seen reacting to a sound. Officers converge, pointing their guns, and the gunman can be seen at a distance falling to the ground, a gun sliding away from him across the floor. Other officers quickly gather around the man.

The shooting came hours after police said a man approached a uniformed officers’ van Saturday night asking for directions and pulled out a gun “without provocation.” He fired multiple shots, striking the officer in the driver’s seat in the chin and the neck.

The officer shot in that attack was released from the hospital Sunday. He was reportedly identified as Paul Stroffolino.

During Sunday’s news conference, Shea brought up recent protests in New York that denounced the NYPD, saying the demonstrations helped fan the flames of anti-police sentiment.

“These things are not unrelated. We had people marching in New York City last week. I condemn it. Using profanities against the police department,” Shea said. “You have to be careful of the words you use, because words matter, words affect people’s behavior.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a tweet Sunday he was “horrified by the multiple attacks” on police.

“NY’s law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. These attacks are heinous,” Cuomo wrote.

The NYPD has upped security at precincts across the city after the shootings.

Shea said Saturday’s injured officer is “lucky to be alive” after he was shot while sitting in a marked police van in the Bronx.

The officer and his partner, both uniformed, were sitting in the van with emergency lights activated in the Longwood Section just before 8:30 p.m. when the suspect opened fire on them.

At a news conference Saturday night, police said the suspect walked up to the van and asked for directions before pulling out a gun and firing multiple shots “without provocation.” Neither officer returned fire.

The officer in the driver’s seat of the van was shot in the chin and neck, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said.

Security video that appeared to capture the shooting shows the van driving quickly away as a man appeared to point something at the fleeing vehicle.

NYPD officer shot van
NYPD

The officer’s partner drove him in the van to Lincoln Hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Shea said the two partners had been friends since middle school.

The bullets narrowly missed the officer’s carotid artery, Shea said.

“He is lucky to be alive,” Shea said. “He is expected to make a full recovery and it is a miracle.”

NYPD officer
Citizen App

At the press conference at Lincoln Hospital Saturday, de Blasio echoed Shea’s characterization of the shooting, calling it “an attempt to assassinate police officers.”

“There’s just too much hatred out there right now,” De Blasio said.

Shea said the Saturday night shooting “harkens back to some bad times,” referencing previous assassinations, including the 2017 fatal shooting of police officer Miosotis Familia as she sat in her patrol vehicle in the Bronx.

The shooting happened near the junction of East 163 and Barretto streets, where the officers were stationed because of recent drug activity and violence, Shea said. Citizen App video showed a heavy police presence at the intersection shortly after the shooting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Source Article from https://1010wins.radio.com/articles/ap-news/2-nypd-officers-shot-and-injured-in-12-hours-in-the-bronx

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