Neighbors describe "war zone" as suspect and police exchanged gunfire in St. Albans
NEW YORK -- Two people are dead after separate police-involved shootings in New York City on Saturday night.
No officers were hurt in the shootings in Queens and Brooklyn, but two suspects were killed.
Residents in the St. Albans neighborhood said it sounded "like a war zone" as a suspect and officers exchanged more than 100 rounds, CBS2's Christina Fan reported Sunday.
The neighborhood was rattled by gunfire after a man on 116h Avenue near Francis Lewis Boulevard made a series of troubling 911 calls threatening the governor, elected officials and members of the police department.
"He clearly stated that he was going to blow the head off of the first police officers that he saw," said NYPD Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey.
Multiple officers responded to the address. A man there identified himself as the caller. According to police, he started cursing and refused commands to take his hands out of his pockets.
After a verbal exchange, the man allegedly pulled out a firearm and exchanged gunfire with at least six officers.
"A good 15 to 20 seconds," said Jamal Walker, a resident of St. Albans.
"My family was running towards there. I screamed to tell my family to get down," Kiaeem Thomas said. "It was like a war zone out here."
"I actually saw the police officers step back, draw their weapons and them start shooting," neighbor Erick Esquivel said.
The suspect was struck and killed.
Watch Christina Fan's report
Some bullets pierced through a neighbor's front window, and at least one hit Elena Caraballo's brick house.
"It is traumatizing, it is, especially-- I'm next door, so a stray bullet could have came through very easily," she told CBS2's John Dias.
Neighbors believe the suspect suffered from mental health problems but say this whole thing was out-of-character for him.
"This is a no win, no good situation all the way around," Caraballo said. "I empathize with the police, and I empathize with the family, too. It's just, it's rough."
Police say no officers or bystanders were injured.
Some neighbors are now questioning the police officers' tactics.
"How many people does it take to stop one person? It doesn't take, like, a whole battalion," neighbor Herman Epps said.
Officers said the suspect was known to them due to prior domestic incidents, and police tell us they recovered a gun from the scene.
Just over an hour later, an officer fatally shot a man who opened fire after fleeing a traffic stop in Downtown Brooklyn.
Uniformed officers with the public safety unit were patrolling in an unmarked car when they saw the driver of a gold Nissan commit multiple traffic violations on Flatbush Avenue.
They pulled the car over and asked the occupants to step out before a passenger took off running and an officer gave chase.
"The male turns around, displays a firearm and fires multiple shots at the officer. The officer draws his weapon, fires shots in return and he strikes a subject in the chest," Maddrey said.
The suspect in that incident was also killed.