‘Violent struggle’ leads to police shooting, critically injuring armed man in Queens, NYPD says

Police shot and critically wounded an armed man in Queens Thursday, according to the NYPD.

The gunplay happened as officers from Far Rockaway’s 101st Precinct were responding to the lobby of an apartment building near the corner of Beach Channel Drive and W. 56th St. in Edgemere around 8 p.m., Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a news conference late Thursday night.

When a sergeant and two officers approached the lobby, at least two men took off, Chell said.

Police immediately grabbed one of the men, who they say was carrying drugs. The other man ran off before cops could stop him.

When the officers caught up with him, they wrestled with him in what Chell described as a “violent struggle for at least 20 seconds.”

During the chaos, one of the officers shot the man, who was carrying a loaded semi-automatic firearm.

It does not appear the man fired shots first, he said.

After he was shot, police immediately rendered care and the suspect was rushed to Jamaica Hospital in critical condition, cops said.

The officers were also taken to local hospitals for observation.

The shooting was caught on surveillance camera, which is still being reviewed by investigators, Chell said.

A gun was recovered at the scene, police said.