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Officer Brian Mulkeen, 33, was rushed to hospital where he was
pronounced dead, police said in a statement. The 27-year-old
suspect was pronounced dead on the scene.
"There is absolutely no worse moment on our job than this,"
Chief of Department Terence Monahan said in remarks at the
hospital, according to a police statement.
"Brian was a great cop dedicated to keeping this city safe. In
fact, just last night he arrested a man in possession of a gun
in the very same precinct," Monahan said.
Officers from the Bronx Borough Anti-Crime Unit were patrolling
the area because of gang activity including recent shootings,
police said.
Three officers stopped the suspect for questioning when he fled,
leading to a foot chase, and as Mulkeen and his partner
attempted to apprehend the man a violent struggle on the ground
broke out, police said.
A body-worn camera video recorded Mulkeen saying, "He's reaching
for it, he's reaching for it," when several shots were fired,
and Mulkeen was struck three times, police said.
Five officers at the scene fired their weapons, striking the
man, who was armed with a .32-caliber revolver, police said.
The suspect, who police did not identify, was on probation until
2022 for a narcotics-related arrest last year and he had several
prior arrests including a burglary conviction, police said.
Mulkeen, who served more than six years with NYPD, was the 37th
law enforcement officer killed by gunfire in the line of duty in
2019, according to Office Down Memorial Page, a website
recording police deaths.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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