Police fatally shot a man after he pointed a revolver at a uniformed sergeant in Bensonhurst Monday evening, according to the NYPD.
Officers were responding to a burglary in progress at a three-story home on 78th Street between Bay Parkway and Stillwell Avenue, within the confines of the 62nd Precinct, when one suspect attempted to escape via the fire escape, police say. He then proceeded to jump over a fence on Stillwell Avenue and point the revolver at the sergeant, who fired at the suspect along with another officer.
The suspect was so close to the two officers that one of them was able to push the gun away before shooting him, according to NYPD Chief of Department James O’Neill.
The suspect — later identified as a 39-year-old black man — was taken to Coney Island Hospital where he later died. A second suspect, described as a heavy-set man in his 30’s wearing a “construction-type helmet,” fled the scene before police arrived and is still at large.
Although seven people and one infant were in the house at the time of the crime, none of the occupants was injured.
A revolver was recovered at the shooting scene and is pending processing by crime scene investigators.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS or for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by going to the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then entering TIP577.