NYPD detective shot in the back during blazing shootout with armed teen: ‘Vest saved his life’
A veteran NYPD detective — just 10 days from retirement — was shot in the back Sunday morning in a wild gunfight after he and a fellow officer jumped out of their car to confront an armed teen.
An 18-year-old suspect was arrested following the shootout, which happened at Nostrand Avenue and St. Johns Place in Crown Heights around 4:45 a.m.
The shooting started when the teenager approached an unarmed NYPD car holding a semi-automatic pistol, according to police.
Police are investigating whether the gunman knew cops, who were wearing uniforms, were in the vehicle when he walked up to it, sources told The Post.
As the two officers got out of the car to try to disarm the suspect, he opened fire, spraying the vehicle with rounds and leaving bullet holes in the front and rear windshields as well as on the passenger side, police said.
The officer, Detective Robert L. Karroll, was shot in the upper back while wearing a ballistic vest and has minor injuries, police said.
He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to make a full recovery, police said.
He is 10 days away from retirement, according to sources.
“Today that vest saved his life,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch at a press conference Sunday morning.
An 18-year-old suspect has been arrested, and a gun has been recovered, sources told The Post.
A second officer suffered bruises to her face and shoulder during the incident.
The officers had been reassigned to Brooklyn shortly after midnight as part of a stepped-up patrol for the NYPD’s July 4th violence reduction plan, and had been working the Sail4th 250 event in lower Manhattan on Saturday.
Both were with a sex offender monitoring unit.
Three officers fired their weapons, but the suspect was not struck, according to police.
There is no body-worn camera video of the shooting, because it happened quickly and unexpectedly, Commissioner Tisch said at the press conference.
Officers are going to local businesses to pull security footage to get a better sense of what happened in the run-up to the shooting, particularly as the suspect approached the vehicle.
The suspect was not hit in the shootout and was later arrested several blocks away on Rogers Avenue and Union Street after a foot chase.
After he resisted arrest and refused to be handcuffed, officers used a Taser to subdue him before taking him into custody.
A picture of the alleged weapon used, a SAR 9mm handgun recovered from the scene, was also shared by the NYPD on X.
The suspect reportedly had no prior criminal history.
— Additional reporting by Tina Moore
