Sandy MaloneBrooklyn, NY – Terrifying video showed an armed suspect shooting at New York police on a busy street and who continued to fire at officers even after he was shot (video below).
New York Police Department (NYPD) officers were alerted to gunfire at about 10:16 p.m. on Nov. 10 by multiple 911 calls and two women who flagged down a sergeant on the street, WABC reported.
A shot spotter notification indicated gunfire in Coney Island at the same time.
Police said the incident began when 42-year-old Jermaine Hickson threatened to shoot his girlfriend outside the outside HL Gourmet Deli Grocery at West 36th St. and Neptune Avenue, the New York Daily News reported.
Surveillance video from outside the deli showed Hickson arguing with his girlfriend in the crosswalk of West 36th Street while holding a pistol at his right side.
When officers arrived on the scene in a patrol car, the armed suspect whirled around to face them, the video showed.
And then Hickson opened fire on them, according to police officials.
“The male immediately starts shooting at the officers,” NYPD Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters. “The officers respond by immediately firing their weapons.”
Chaos ensued when the gunfire erupted.
“As soon as we heard two shots, we threw ourselves behind the deli [counter],” an employee of the deli told the New York Daily News.
The video showed Hickson began firing rounds at officers as he tried to back up and take cover behind a parked car.
Two of the officers ducked behind their patrol vehicle and then returned fire, the New York Daily News reported.
Terrified witnesses caught on the sidewalk described the scene.
“It wasn’t good,” one person said. “It sounded like some cheap fireworks until I heard the word, ‘gun.’ At that point I jumped up and the rapid fire was going on.”
“He was so locked in,” the witness described one of the officers who was returning fire at Hickson. “I’ve never seen a cop this focused on looking at something.”
Video of the shooting showed that the officers’ bullets struck the suspect but Hickson continued firing back at them even as he fell to the ground.
Police said the suspect got off several more rounds after he was shot, the New York Daily News reported.
The video showed that as he lay on the sidewalk wounded, Hickson rolled toward the police officers, racked the slide on his gun, and fired one more shot at them.
Officers were eventually able to disarm the wounded suspect and take him into custody, WABC reported.
They immediately began to render First Aid, but Hickson was pronounced dead at the scene.
“They did everything to the book as far as I see,” a witness told the New York Daily News. “The only thing that I saw was when the girl was like, ‘Stop, stop!’, they threw her on the ground. That wasn’t necessary, she was no threat.”
Police officials said two NYPD officers assigned to the 60th Precinct were extremely lucky they hadn’t been struck by a bullet during the gunfight, WABC reported.
Chief Maddrey said that four of the six officers who responded to the scene fired their weapons at Hickson, the New York Daily News reported.
The chief said investigators did not yet know how many rounds the officers fired altogether at the armed suspect.
None of the officers were wounded in the gun battle but several were transported to the hospital for evaluation of ringing in their ears, the New York Daily News reported.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. WARNING – Graphic Content:
Yesterday, #NYPD police involved shooting in Coney Island Brooklyn, NY #Friday #news pic.twitter.com/EbgSpYRIP4
— Viral News NY (@ViralNewsNYC) November 11, 2022
Holly Matkin
