An NYPD officer was shot in the face with possible birdshot pellets in Brooklyn on Monday when an alleged murder suspect with a shotgun returned to the scene and opened fire, according to two law enforcement sources and city officials.
At a late-morning news conference, First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said the wounded officer and his family were doing well. Two officers who got hurt in a vehicle crash while responding to the shooting are also expected to be OK.
According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, EMS initially responded to the scene on Thomas S. Boyland Street, near Linden Boulevard, in Brownsville after hearing reports of a gunshot victim. They found Leroy Wallace dead on the sidewalk, she said.
One shotgun shell casing was discovered in the vestibule, where witnesses said he was shot. Tisch said investigators believe the victim stumbled out of the building, collapsed on the sidewalk and died.
Two officers stayed to secure the scene, Tisch said; one stayed with the body, the other with the shell casing. Nearly two hours after the initial call, Tisch said a man opened the door of one of the first-floor apartments and fired at the inside officer from close range. He was hit on the left side of his face.
Tisch said the officer’s injuries are consistent with birdshot pellets being fired from a shotgun.
“Our cop returns fire and the perp barricades himself back inside the apartment,” Tisch said.
The 25-year-old suspect, she said, was found dead a short time later after Emergency Service Unit officers broke a first floor window and flew a drone into the residence.
“Camera footage showed a male lying motionless on the kitchen floor with a shotgun on the floor near him,” the commissioner explained. Investigators initially suspected the man died from a self-inflicted gunshot, but later found no ballistics evidence in the kitchen. The medical examiner will now determine whether it was the officer’s return fire that killed the suspect.
Tisch said the suspect’s name is being withheld at this time.
Adams said he had been briefed on the situation.
The injured officer is Sharjeel Waris, a 4-year veteran with the force who works out of the 73rd Precinct, Tisch said. She said she had spoken with him earlier Monday and he was in good spirits.
“This could have ended very differently,” Tisch said. “What happened this morning is a reminder of how quickly danger finds the men and women who protect this city. They stood their ground, they did their jobs and once again they kept people safe.”
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