Police shooting: Yonkers detective in critical condition, suspect killed
A Yonkers police detective on the Westchester Safe Streets Task Force was in critical but stable condition Wednesday evening after being shot in the abdomen during a firearms investigation earlier in the day.
A 28-year-old man was fatally shot by a FBI agent after allegedly shooting the detective.
That's according to Yonkers Police Commissioner John Mueller, as police began work to piece together the latest violent incident in Yonkers' Nodine Hill area.
The exchange of gunfire took place inside a local bodega at 115 Elm St. shortly after 2 p.m., Mueller said during a press conference.
The detective, a 27-year member of the department, "lost a tremendous amount of blood, but thankfully we think he's going to be OK," Mueller said.
While Yonkers police didn't release the detective's name Wednesday, Congressman Jamaal Bowman identified him as officer Brian Menton in a statement he issued Thursday morning about the incident.
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Members of the Westchester Safe Streets Task Force attempted to arrest three men, two of whom were in the bodega when one of the men tried to push past the detective inside the deli and shot him in the stomach, Mueller said. He noted such firearms investigations happen each day.
An FBI agent, who is part of the task force, then returned fire, shooting the suspect once, Mueller said, noting he believes the agent was the only member of the task force to discharge his weapon.
Both Menton and the suspect were taken to local hospitals. The deceased suspect has not been identified by authorities.
The incident shook residents of the region, some of whom were just steps away when the firing began.
The shooting came roughly seven months after The Journal News and the USA TODAY Network Hudson Valley region published an investigation focusing on the cycle of gang violence, that has kept residents of certain urban neighborhoods, like Nodine Hill, frustrated and scared.
What happened?
"We have a pretty good handle on what happened and how it happened," Mueller said.
Mueller said law enforcement originally confronted the men outside of the bodega before the suspects went inside the business.
Officers were in plainclothes and did not have body cameras on, Mueller said, but there was video inside the bodega that captured the incident, which occurred in a matter of seconds.
Mueller stressed the investigation is in the preliminary stages. He said a number of people are in custody as police try to further investigate the shooting, and two illegal guns were recovered.
Under state law 70-b, "any incident in which the death of a person" occurs during interaction with law enforcement is to be investigated by the state Attorney General's Office. The office is aware of the shooting, according to a spokesperson.
At least 50 Yonkers police officers were on the scene around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, with one block taped off in each direction of Elm and Linden streets. At least four officers from the FBI and NYPD joint terrorism task force also were present.
The parking lot outside the emergency room of Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx Wednesday afternoon was flooded with police vehicles. Several officers were seen going in and out of the emergency room.
Hospital security blocked off access to the emergency room to media members.
'It’s always shooting over here'
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said the city owed a debt of gratitude to the officers involved.
“What you saw here was very, very proactive policing, that’s what our officers do each and every single day," Spano said.
He said while the surrounding neighborhood is a tight-knit community, Elm Street has been a "hotspot" for crime.
Leah Payment, 32, just got off the bus when she saw the shooting just feet away.
Payment, a mother of two boys with a set of twins on the way, was on her way back from signing a new lease for her home. She's lived there for three years, but would like to move her family.
“It’s always shooting over here,” she said. “It’s consistent.”
About a year ago, she said she walked near another shooting, that time a drive-by also up the hill on Elm Street.
“I just feel like uncomfortable sometimes,” Payment said, “because you never know when you come outside.”
Standing next to the police line after Wednesday's gunfire, one man, in passing, said in Spanish, “este barrio está loco.”
In English that means "This neighborhood is crazy."
This is a developing story. Check back for more information.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Yonkers police shooting: Detective in critical condition, suspect dead
