Police shot and killed a suspect they pulled over during a traffic stop near Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, the NYPD said Thursday night. The man was not believed to have been armed.
According to NYPD Chief Terence Monahan, three uniformed officers in a marked police cruiser stopped a vehicle heading toward East 211 Street around 3 p.m. with a driver not wearing a seat belt. After the Volkswagen SUV stopped, the officers approached and found there were three open warrants for the driver.
The man initially got out of the car and police tried to place him under arrest, but he began to resist and fought to get back into the car, Monahan said. A sergeant deployed his stun gun during the violent struggle, but the suspect continued to fight the officers inside the car.
At some point during the struggle, the suspect put the car in gear moving back and forth with the officers still inside, Monahan said. As the car was put into reverse, an officer on the driver's side had to let go of the suspect and jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by the car.
After about a minute and a half of fighting with the suspect, the sergeant fired his gun, shooting the man in the chest. He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Monahan said the suspect, whose identity has not been released, was found with cocaine, heroin and MDMA. The NYPD chief would not go into details regarding what the driver's previous warrants were for.
The other passengers in the car were not hurt, and the officers were taken to the hospital for evaluation.
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The scene is just a few blocks from the gates of the Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy. An investigation is ongoing.
It was the third police-involved shooting in the city in a matter of three days.
On Tuesday night in Brooklyn, officers shot and killed a man who they say was shooting at someone else. Hours later early Wednesday morning, NYPD officers opened fire on an armed suspect at a Bronx subway platform.
