By TimesLedger Staff
A young police officer was in critical condition Sunday after being shot in the head as he approached a man during a stop in Queens Village, the NYPD said.
Shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday Plainclothes Officer Brian Moore, 25, and his partner were in an unmarked police car on patrol near the intersection of 212th Street and 104th Avenue.
Moore was in the driver’s seat when he saw a man in his 30s on foot “adjusting an object in his waistband,” according to Police Commissioner William Bratton, who recounted the events that led up to the shooting at a news conference in Queens later that night.
Moore pulled the car up behind the suspect and asked about his actions, Bratton said. The man turned toward the officers and allegedly fired several times into the vehicle, hitting Moore in the head, the commissioner said.
Bratton pointed out that both officers were still sitting in the unmarked car and could not get out of the vehicle to return the fire.
Moore’s partner, Erik Jansen, radioed for assistance and a radio car took Moore to Jamaica Hospital, where he was rushed into surgery. The officer remained in critical condition Sunday, a police spokeswoman said.
Cops canvassed the area for the suspect and 90 minutes later arrested Demetrius Blackwell, 35, of Queens Village, who has a long rap sheet, including criminal possession of a weapon and robbery, according to Bratton.
As of Sunday afternoon, Blackwell was still in central booking, the police spokeswoman said.
Moore, a four-year veteran of the NYPD, is assigned to the 105th Precinct. Jansen, 30, who joined the force in 2011, was not injured.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and a number of the NYPD’s top brass accompanied Bratton to the news conference.
