NYPD detective wounded after driving into Brooklyn shooting, Mayor Adams gives thanks ‘these officers will be going home tonight’
An NYPD detective was wounded Thursday when a bullet blew out the window of his marked police cruiser as he drove right into a shooting in Brooklyn, police said.
Det. Sunjay Verma was driving west on Pitkin Ave. at Legion St. in Brownsville about 4:30 p.m. when he and his partner rolled into a barrage of bullets, police officials said.
At least nine shots were fired — with one slug blowing out the cruiser’s driver-side window. Investigators believe Verma ‘s arm was grazed by the broken glass, cop sources said.
“At this time we believe the shooter was attempting to strike a white vehicle that was driving northbound on Legion,” NYPD Assistant Chief Joseph Kenney said.
Pamela White, 60, said she was sitting in her car when three men jumped in the white sedan and fled.
“There were shots fired from behind. It was from close range, because it was loud,” she said. “The window of his car was shot out. The cop jumped out of the car with his gun in his hand, running. He was screaming, ‘Shots fired! Shots fired! Into the radio of his shoulder.”
The detective’s partner, identified by sources as Officer Nickita Beckford, jumped out as well, though the sedan had sped off, White said.
“It’s like normal out here and I don’t like it. People out here shooting each other like it’s nothing, and it’s every day,” she said.
The two cops got out of their damaged car and chased the shooter, but lost him as he ran, police said.
The officer was taken to Kings County Hospital.
“This person who came out of the building had no regard for any of the innocent people in his community,” Mayor Adams said of the gunman later Thursday. “And then, after the shooting, to watch those heroic officers jump out of the car and not run away from the violence, they ran towards the violence — really think about that.”
He added, “Thank God these officers will be going home tonight.”
The shooter was wearing a white T-shirt and blue shorts, but ditched the T-shirt and the gun, a Taurus 9mm pistol, in a nearby courtyard, sources said.
“I promise you, New York City detectives will track you down and will bring you to justice,” said Detectives’ Endowment Association spokesman Paul DiGiacomo, who called on Gov. Hochul to appoint a “special firearms prosecutor” similar to the city’s special narcotics prosecutor.
Verma, who joined the NYPD in 2017, is one of the 73rd Precinct’s neighborhood coordination officers.
