Gun Battle Erupts As Man Opens Fire On Police Officers In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A gun battle between a suspect and police rattled a Brooklyn neighborhood early Friday morning.
It began just after 1 a.m. when police said a plain clothes NYPD sergeant and another officer spotted a 52-year-old man shot in the arm while patrolling near 1266 Madison St. in Bushwick.
Police said the victim gave them a description of the alleged gunman who the officers saw running from the scene. They tracked him down in their unmarked car to Jefferson Avenue and Broadway, just over a half-mile away, police said.
As the officers closed in, investigators said the suspect, 27-year-old Jerrol Harris, turned and opened fire, striking their car with multiple shots.
That's when the officers got out of the vehicle and chased after the suspect, drawing their own guns and firing back, police said. As more cops arrived on the scene, police said an officer shot and hit the suspect in the calf.
Suspect Injured In Police-Involved Shooting In Brooklyn
"It was consecutive, one after another, after another and then when I looked outside, I saw police presence," witness Sheila Fairweather told CBS2's Janelle Burrell. "I was like, 'OK, what's going on?'"
In surveillance video from a nearby home where Lauren Caulk lives on Bushwick Avenue, at least 40 shots could be heard in about a two-minute period, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
CBS2's Ilana Gold later reported as many as 70 shots were fired.
"I couldn't believe how long it was going on. It just kept coming, kept coming. I was like, 'Is this really happening?' It just wouldn't end," Caulk said. "It definitely was like a wild west shootout."
"It was crazy. I was looking at the window and I could see the cops shooting across the street," neighbor Van Kuch told Gold.
The video shows several police cruisers speeding down the street as the gunshots ring out, a scene that terrified Caulk and her fiance.
"He's like, 'do not look out the widow!' He pushed me off the bed and crawled to the ground and waited for it to be over," she said.
Another witness, who did not want to be identified, described what he saw.
"He was shot, he was lying there," the man said. "By that time, there was already a lot of police officers en route and officers at the scene already, you know, taking out the tape, blocking off the area."
A .40 caliber gun was recovered next to the suspect, police said. Cellphone video showed him being put into an ambulance. He was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
The victim shot in the arm, identified as Leon Faison, was listed in stable condition. None of the officers who were involved were hurt, but they were treated at the hospital for ringing in their ears.
