Remarks as delivered by Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea:
Earlier today, in the Bronx, Lincoln Hospital, I went to visit a sergeant from the 44th Precinct, that earlier this week, you have seen the video, was run over in a cowardly attack; still in critical care, in the intensive care unit, but recovering, slowly. When I was finished from Lincoln Hospital, I called a lieutenant that several days ago, you have seen that video as well, was involved in a unprovoked attack by a coward, struck from behind in an attempt to bash his skull in. In that instance too, our cops were arresting looters and other violent demonstrators in the middle of a Manhattan street. It has been a long month for all of us. And now, this morning, we are at Kings County Hospital. I will tell you again, the information is preliminary and subject to change, but one thing is certain- the courageous men and women of this police department that put their gun belt on every day and hit the streets to protect New Yorkers.
Tonight, two of those officers were assigned in the 70th Precinct to an anti-looting post to stop people from breaking into stores. It was a post at the intersection of Church and Flatbush Avenue, when at approximately 11:45 p.m., without warning, video surveillance shows a male walk up to the officers casually, take out a knife and stab one of the officers in the neck. That officer was stabbed in the left side of his neck, thank God missing an artery, and is recovering here in stable condition at the hospital.
About the same time, a block or two away, what we know at this point in time, is that we had a uniformed sergeant and police officer hearing shots fired that were coming from that initial scene, respond quickly to that scene. We believe that when they got there, they saw the perpetrator with a gun in his hand, which we believe belonged to one of the officers. What we know at this point in time, is that 22 shell casings have been recovered from a number of members of the service. We know that we had a chaotic scene with a knife recovered as well.
In the ensuing, we had the perpetrator struck multiple times. He is here and he is in critical condition. We had two police officers shot in the hand, and we had the third police officer that is stabbed in the neck. All police officers at this point in time, thank God, are in stable condition and are expected to recover.
I cannot thank enough the staff at this hospital for what you do, not just today but every day, in taking care of our officers.
The investigation remains ongoing.
All charges are merely accusations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call the NYPD‘s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1–800–577–TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1–888–57–PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers‘ website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
All tips will be kept strictly confidential.
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