AndrewBlakeBrooklyn, NY – An off-duty New York Police Department (NYPD) officer shot and killed a robber at a gas station on March 5 (video below).
Police said the incident occurred at about 10:35 pm, after NYPD Officer David Sanon stopped at a gas station while off-duty, the New York Post reported.
The officer was sitting in his SUV while the attendant filled his tank with gas, when two armed men arrived to rob the gas station,
One of the gunmen demanded money from the gas station employee inside the attendant’s booth, while his accomplice told the police officer and the employee pumping gas not to move.
“As the two suspects exited the gas station, the off-duty officer identified himself as a police officer and gave them verbal commands to stop,” NYPD Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison said at a press conference.
“The two suspects turned around towards the officer with the guns in their hands,” Chief Harrison said.
Officer Sanon opened fire on the robbers, and fatally shot 19-year-old William Simon. He was transported to Brookdale Hospital where he later died, the New York Post reported.
The second suspect escaped.
Police recovered Simon’s .44 caliber revolver at the scene, the New York Daily News reported.
A witness to the shooting captured the immediate aftermath on video, with a commentary about what had happened.
The video clearly showed the suspect lying on the ground with a silver revolver underneath his legs.
“Cops in New York are the best. Look at this… the cop got him,” he told people arriving at the scene as he filmed.
“I love that I love that… New York cops [are the] best,” the man said in the video, very pleased with the officer’s handling of the robbery.
Police recovered a .44-caliber revolver belonging to the suspect at the scene.
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The manager and an employee of the gas station told the New York Post that they saw Officer Sanon shoot the robber.
The employee was arriving for his shift when he came upon the scene, according to the manager.
“He saw two guys with guns trying to rob the people and he ran away,” he said.
Watch video of the immediate aftermath of the shooting below (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT):