Rookie NYPD Officer Shot On Way To Work In Queens, Suspects In Custody
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD has announced the arrests of two suspects in Tuesday night's shooting of an off-duty officer.
Police said 19-year-old Chad Collie and 18-year-old Jayare Robinson, both of Queens, face charges in the shooting.
The injured rookie officer is recovering at Jamaica Hospital after being wounded when the suspects attempted to steal his car in the Arverne section of the The Rockaways.
The wounded officer underwent surgery overnight, CBS2's Elijah Westbrook reported.
Residents in Arverne were in disbelief. Just over a month into the new year and six police officers have now been shot.
"It's like target practice right now," resident Tony Ferguson said. "It's ridiculous. Another one back to back to back."
WATCH: NYPD Presser On Off-Duty Officer Shot
Police say shortly after 10 p.m., an off-duty rookie officer who was on his way to work stopped at a traffic light in his personal car at Beach 62nd Street and Beach Channel Drive.
Two suspects walked up to the officer, and tapped on the driver's side window with a gun. That's when the cop got out of the car, and one of the suspects started firing at the officer, hitting him in the shoulder.
"The officer returned fire but did not strike anyone and the two males fled the scene on foot. Uniformed officers from the 100th Precinct heard the sound of gunfire and rushed to the scene," NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said.
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Those officers helped the injured cop get to Jamaica Hospital. He is expected to survive, police said.
A few minutes later, a different set of officers spotted the suspects three blocks away. They got out of their unmarked car and were shot at by the suspects. The NYPD said those officers used restraint, and did not shoot back. Instead, they chased them on foot and captured the two men.
"As those officers got out of the car, the suspects fired a shot towards the officers which struck the rear bumper on the passenger side of their unmarked car," Corey said.
Police tweeted out a photo of the gun they believe was used in the shooting.
Mayor Eric Adams addressed the current sense of lawlessness in the city.
"When these two individuals shot at a passenger driving a car, they didn't shoot at a police officer, they shot at a civilian. And then to find out that they shot at police officers, it sent a message. They had no regard of who they were trying to kill," Adams said. "So the conversation we have been having over and over again -- the over-proliferation of guns, ready to use them on individuals in blue uniforms or blue jeans. They don't care. They don't care. And to see something like this happen repeatedly in our city is unacceptable."
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The shooting comes as President Joe Biden is expected to visit New York City Thursday to meet with the mayor and lay out a clear plan for stopping gun violence.
The mayor's office said the plan includes using federal money for the NYPD to put more officers on the streets and investments in community violence prevention programs.
