Two police officers were shot and a third was stabbed in a confrontation with a suspect in Brooklyn late Wednesday, police and sources said.
The melee unfolded when a suspect approached a cop on Church Avenue near Flatbush Avenue at about 11:45 p.m. and stabbed him in the neck, a police source said.
Several cops responded and one pulled his firearm, the sources said.
The officer and the suspect struggled for the weapon, which went off, striking one officer in the hand and another in the arm.
A sergeant responded and fired on the suspect, who was struck.
The police officers were rushed to Kings County Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
The suspect was taken into custody at the scene. He was listed in critical condition.
“It appears to be a complete cowardly, despicable, unprovoked attack on a defenseless police officer,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a press conference following the shooting.
“I think we are all fed up with, what we’re saying is this violence has to stop.”
Flatbush resident Jean Jones said he was driving down East 21st Street near Church Avenue when he watched the shooting unfold.
Jones said he saw at least two officers jump out of their cars and start shooting.
“I saw them shooting and then two of those officers started hiding behind their vehicle, like they were trying to avoid being shot,” Jones told The Post.
“I just heard gunshots, at least 16 if I was being conservative,” he said.
“It’s a lot. I was just thinking about police officers. It’s unfortunate that things kind of escalate,” he said.
The shooting comes amid citywide protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.
Protesters marched in Brooklyn Wednesday night, but not near where the officers were shot.
The post Two NYPD cops shot, one stabbed during ‘cowardly’ attack in Brooklyn appeared first on American Police Beat Magazine.
