NYPD Officer Suffers Head Injury in Shootout With Teen
Key Highlights
- An NYPD officer narrowly avoided serious injury after falling and hitting his head during a struggle with an armed teen suspect.
- The suspect, Antonio Morales, was shot twice and remains in critical condition at Jacobi Medical Center.
- The incident began with a domestic robbery involving the suspect, who had a significant violent criminal history.
NEW YORK -- An NYPD officer narrowly averted serious injury during a shootout with a Bronx teenager who had allegedly just robbed his mother at gunpoint when the cop fell backward and slammed his head on the ground as he grappled with the armed teen Thursday night, officials said
The violent confrontation erupted at 1015 E. Gun Hill Road around 9:16 p.m., officials said. The injured officer was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center and was in stable condition.
The 18-year-old shooting suspect, Antonio Morales, was shot twice in the melee and was in critical condition at the same hospital, officials said.
Criminal charges against Morales were pending Friday.
Initial reports indicated that the officer had been grazed by a bullet, but cops later determined his injuries came from the fall, officials said.
According to NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera, two officers responded to a call from a man reporting a “domestic robbery… that his son had robbed his mother and older brother at gunpoint.”When cops arrived, the dad then directed them to 1015 E. Gun Hill Road, warning that his son was armed, Rivera said.
The officers showed up at the address and tried to “keep the door closed” on the first-floor apartment where Morales was found as they waited for an NYPD Emergency Service Unit to arrive, Rivera said.
A moment later, police heard “three gunshots,” Rivera said.
Morales “was able to open the door” and tried to run away — only to crash into officers standing right outside.
“A struggle ensued as officers attempted to take him into custody, and one officer fell backwards and hit his head,” Rivera said. “An officer then discharged a firearm, striking the perpetrator twice, once in the lower back and once in the right arm.”
Cops recovered a loaded firearm and a bag from the teen, Rivera said.
The officer who fell backward sustained a “serious” head injury and was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where he was in stable condition, Rivera said.
Morales was brought to the same hospital and was in critical condition Thursday night.
Rivera said officers heard gunfire inside the apartment, but said the “nature” of that shooting is “unclear at this point” and was still being investigated.
“He did fire some shots inside… we recovered shell casings and there was some damage to a window,” Rivera said.
Morales, Rivera said, “has a significant violent criminal history.” Among his recent arrests was a January bust for attempted murder, officials said.
“Our cops walked into a very dangerous domestic situation where they did not know what was on the other side of that door,” Rivera said. “Thankfully, our officers were able to apprehend our suspect, and our officer is expected to have a full recovery.”
One building tenant, Josiah Bermudez, 25, told the Daily News he feared the injured officer had been shot in the disturbing outburst, adding he and his wife were rattled by the sound of the gunshot blasts on the first floor.
“Most of the calls from the building are over domestic disputes,” Bermudez said. “So for this to go down here is confusing and scary.”
A woman who lives in the building and said she is a mental health counselor acknowledged the encounter was disturbing.
“It was a lot of screaming and fighting and then shooting,” said the woman, who gave her first name as Angela, 23. “There was a lot of blood by the elevator. I’m scared and I thank god my son didn’t see this.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated the officer had been shot.
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