A police officer shot and injured a 38-year-old man who allegedly displayed a gun to them and refused their orders to drop it inside a public housing complex in South Jamaica on Friday night, law enforcement sources said.
The incident occurred at 9:20 p.m. on Oct. 28 inside the Baisley Housing Development located at 116-80 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., where a lieutenant and an officer assigned to NYPD Housing Bureau Police Service Area 9 were on patrol inside the location.
Both in plainclothes, the lieutenant and officer exited a second-floor stairwell when they encountered Jamel Ethridge, 38, who was seen allegedly holding a firearm, according to Assistant Chief David Barrere, commanding officer of NYPD Patrol Borough Queens South.
The officers told Ethridge to drop his weapon, Barrere noted. When he refused, law enforcement sources said, the officers fired their weapons, striking Ethridge in the left leg.
Paramedics rushed him to Jamaica Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. The lieutenant and officer were also taken to a local hospital for evaluation of possible injuries.
Police recovered the gun Ethridge allegedly held, a 9mm handgun, at the scene. Barrere noted that Ethridge had an “extensive arrest history that includes attempted murder, and multiple arrests for criminal possession of a firearm.”
The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division, a unit with the department that specifically examines police-involved shootings, is conducting an inquiry.
