NYPD: Officers Shoot Suspect Who Pointed Fake Gun At Them In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD is investigating a shooting involving two of their own officers in the Bronx.
Police say they shot a man who pointed a gun at them early Saturday morning, but it turns out that gun was fake, CBS2's Marc Liverman reports.
It happened just before 1 a.m.
According to police, the man had been walking around with what appeared to be a gun near East 167th Street and Findlay Avenue.
A couple called 911 and said the man pointed his weapon at them.
Police say as soon as they got to the scene, they ordered the suspect to show his hands. That's when they say he pointed his weapon at them.
"I heard somebody shooting so when I came up to the window I saw all the police and I came out," Rachie Serano told CBS2's Charlie Cooper.
"Two uniformed officers discharged their weapons, striking the suspect in the torso. The officers immediately rendered aid to the suspect and requested an ambulance to the scene," NYPD Chief of Patrol Fausto Pichardo said.
"It was a kid on the floor already shot. He pulled out a knife and the knife looked like a gun and they shot him," Serano added.
That suspect was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
Pichardo said an "imitation firearm" was recovered at the scene.
"Fake gun no good and officers are getting killed. They cant take no chances," Edwin Ramos said.
"There's always a shooting every other weekend or something and it's just not a safe neighborhood. Not enough cops around," Lady Summers added.
"These are senior citizen buildings here and there's a lot of old people so we see these things around here happen like that and we get scared because we're too old for this," Serano told CBS2.
The picture released by police shows the fake gun with what looks like a knife attached to one end of it.
So far, police haven't released any other information on that suspect.
