Updated Friday, April 24, 9:51 a.m.
Police shot and killed a man Wednesday night after he allegedly fired a gun inside a Jamaica bar and shot at cops as they tried to chase him down, authorities said.
Officers were called to the Irish Hillside Inn, at the corner of 168th Street and Hillside Avenue, at about 9:15 p.m. after they received a report of shots fired inside the bar.
According to published reports, the trouble began when 30-year-old Jonathan Efraim, who had been staying with his girlfriend just a few blocks away, walked into the establishment about an hour before cops were called. At one point, he started a conversation with a 72-year-old man, and the bartender, feeling the need the intervene, told the elderly patron that he had a cab waiting.
That’s when Efraim reportedly shouted, “No one’s going anywhere,” and fired a gunshot into the ceiling.
Officers encountered Efraim outside the bar and, when they identified themselves and told him to stop, he took off toward 168th Place and Highland Avenue, authorities said. That’s where he stopped, turned and shot at the officers.
Efraim then continued to flee down 168th Place towards Hillside Avenue, where he again stopped and pointed his weapon in the direction of the officers, police said. Two officers then fired in his direction a total of five times, striking him in the torso.
EMS rushed Efraim to Jamaica Hospital, where he died.
The two officers who discharged their weapons were taken to North Shore Medical Center for treatment of tinnitus. No other injuries were reported.
A loaded 9-mm Glock 9 handgun that police said belonged to Efraim was recovered at the scene.
Efraim served in the U.S. Marines from 2004 to 2007 and had a lengthy rap sheet, according to published reports. He had 16 prior arrests, and, The New York Times reported, had most recently been arrested in April 2012 in Staten Island and charged with criminal mischief and menacing a police officer. He also had a history of psychiatric issues, including a suicide attempt in 2003, The New York Times reported. According to The Wall Street Journal, police had responded to five emotional disturbance calls from 1998 to 2014 involving Efraim.
Efraim’s death is reportedly the NYPD’s first fatal police-involved shooting of this year.
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