Officer Shot At Bushwick Houses, Hundreds Of Cops Search For Perp

(Zach Campbell)

A police officer was shot in the head around 9 p.m. tonight in Brooklyn, and there's currently a massive police mobilization in search of the shooter. Apparently, two anti-crime police officers saw a man with a gun by the Bushwick Houses; WPIX reports, "They gave chase and followed the suspect into an enclosed area where the man wheeled and fired, striking one of the officers in the head, police said."

Neither the FDNY nor the NYPD are confirming anything about the officer's condition—an FDNY spokesman will only say that he was transported to Bellevue, and the NYPD press office tells us they have no information to offer to the public about the shooting. But WPIX said that the officer, who was described in the Post as a plainclothes cop, was alive and conscious when he was transported to Bellevue, and there are currently "several hundred" officers swarming the area in search of the shooter.

The scene outside the Bushwick Houses tonight. (David Eisenman)

One tipster tells us that helicopters are currently circling the neighborhood, and some "20 - 30 cop cars came flying down Bushwick Avenue" about a half hour after the shooting. The Daily News reports that a witness saw the officer and a partner chasing two men, and then gunfire broke out. "He was bleeding from the mouth," the witness says. "They tried to revive him, pressing on his neck, but he looked in bad shape. He looked critical." But the News also reports that the officer is expected to survive. We'll update as more information becomes available.

Photographer Zach Campbell tells us, "I just spoke to a couple cops and residents who said that the entire complex is blocked off - nobody being let in or out of the buildings. Traffic on Bushwick Ave past Flushing is completely stopped - people are just standing outside their cars with this kind of dazed air. Someone said there are at least three precincts responding... I was a block away from the projects right after the event and saw a 20 minute stream of cars, easily a few dozen vehicles coming."

Update: Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly spoke at a press conference just now. Bloomberg identified the officer as Kevin Brennan, 29, saying he "was shot tonight in the head in the Bushwick Houses public housing development in Brooklyn when he and his partners responded to a report of shots fired. The doctors here at Bellevue successfully removed the bullet from the right base of Officer Brennan’s skull. He is in critical but stable condition."

Brennan has been with the NYPD since 2005, and Bloomberg said, "Just six weeks ago, he and his wife Janet welcomed a beautiful baby girl named Maeve into the world. And thankfully tonight I think there’s no reason to think her daddy won’t be there to see her crawl for the first time - and in good time, dance at her wedding."

Police say they've apprehended the suspect at the Bushwick Houses.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on January 31, 2012 10:45 PM

Comments [rss]

aspiringrapper

Ortiz and his family and friends seem like piece of shit ghetto animals.

nayerr

A cop getting shot provides me with no sadness whatsoever.

OleS

Aw look, the troll is all grown up now

OleS

What a fine, upstanding citizen.

ed_Ex2

Will the "community" condemn a shooting of a another cop, or keep crying that their streets are unsafe and that cops shouldn't use excessive force? (FYI: The latter.)

Gwen Dibley

:-)

WZA

Bonehead who did the shooting just made the hood hot for the next couple of weeks.

NYC247

Detroit, Chicago, Philly, and many other cities are as a whole more dangerous than NYC. However, when you compare certain neighborhoods in NYC with the aforementioned cities the crime rate is compatible. For example, Brownsville, Brooklyn averages about 25 to 28 homicides per year with a population of about 80,000 residents. If NYC as a whole had the same rate like Brownsville than this city would average well over 2,500 murders a year. In the bad old day's Brownsville and many neighborhoods in NYC with populations well below 100,000 average 60, 80, and well over 100 murders a year.

Guest

Right, and that 80,000 people includes Ocean Hill, which is safer than Brownsville. If you only extracted the crime and population statistics for just Brownsville that crime rate number would be much higher.

crusher153

i'm glad to hear that the officer is expected to pull through. as for the violence, lets just remember it come election time.

Gwen Dibley

Allow me to put an end to one argument right now. Boston sucks. I lived there for 6 years. It is a city with training-wheels.

Gwen Dibley

Wait, did I put an end to it or just perpetuate it? Crap. Anyway, if you like blond white women in pink red sox hats with their pony tails pulled through the back, then I guess Boston is great.

aktobk

Damn, the one night i have some drinks after work in the village and i miss all the commotion. hope the cop pulls through.

on a side note it's pretty entertaining reading all the comments along the lines of.
"my town can beat up yer town!"
"nu-uh!"
"ya-huh!"
"my town knows karate!"
"my town has a gun!"
"ooooooooooooo"

Elizabeth Sorrell

I just saw about 40 cops arrest some guy on the L train platform at the Graham stop this morning. Have no idea what that was about.

Gwen Dibley

My apartment overlooks Grand Street between Lorimer and Leonard. I have NEVER seen so many cruisers bombing down Grand in such numbers as last night. By the time it sunk into my brain that I had been listening to police sirens for almost 30 minutes I went to my window and counted 20+ cruisers and paddy wagons going by... God knows how many went by before them.

cyncity.org

Regardless of the anti-NYPD sentiment around here, no police office deserves to get shot.

Ian MacAllen

Tony Bologna.

And Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata

tnturner

...

dollarmenu

I saw several police cars tearing through the LES tonight before I knew what was going on. Judging by their speed, and frankly their recklessness, you would've thought they were pursuing a major terrorist event. And all that for a *single* police officer being shot? Not to belittle his service, and I understand he's a fellow police officer, but what would it take to get that sort of response for any other resident of this city?

ToastNYC

It has to be absolutely clear to all criminals that shooting a police officer with be met with major repercussion or the police system doesn't work.