Police Commissioner: NYPD Officer Shot in Brooklyn, Saved by Bulletproof Vest

(AP) The parents of a police officer whose bulletproof vest saved his life when he responded to a domestic dispute in Brooklyn called it a “Christmas miracle” that the bullet never cracked his skin, New York City’s mayor said early Friday as he blamed the encounter in part on rough times.

“We know that during the COVID crisis, we’ve seen horrible instances of domestic violence. We know that during the holidays, unfortunately, tragically, a lot of the worst instincts come out in some people,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea pointed at the center of the bulletproof vest where the bullet struck the 27-year-old officer in the back to show how lucky he was that the shooting in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood did not end more tragically. A 20-year-old man was arrested.

Shea said multiple officers responded to 911 calls placed by a woman who said “get here quick, get here now” because her daughter’s boyfriend was threatening to arrive at the private house and “shoot the place up.”

Officers were speaking to the daughter when she pointed to her arriving boyfriend and “the next thing you hear are shots being fired,” according to Shea. He said he based his account in part on his review of body camera footage from his officers along with the 911 calls.

Shea said two police officers fired at least seven shots, but did not strike the gunman, who fled on foot in the residential neighborhood east of Prospect Park in central Brooklyn.

After a chase of one to two blocks, an officer caught up to the man and at gunpoint warned him at least 10 times: “Drop the gun! Drop the gun!” Shea said.

Eventually, the man dropped the weapon and was arrested as he lay on a sidewalk, the commissioner said.

The officer, who has served with the police for over two years, was taken to Kings County Hospital, where Shea said he was “in a little pain but he is in extremely good spirits.”

De Blasio said that he and Shea spoke to the parents of the officer who was shot.

“The look of relief on their faces, unforgettable,” de Blasio said. “But also, they felt that this was a Christmas miracle, that their son is alive and well.”

He added: “Because our officer put himself in harm’s way, an innocent woman is alive tonight.”

De Blasio urged anyone in danger to call the city’s domestic violence hotline.

“Help is there for you,” he said.

The names of the suspect and the officer were not released.