NYPD identified as Chad Collie (19) and Jayare Robinson ( ) to the teenagers arrested as suspects in a carjacking and the shooting that left an off-duty police officer injured on Tuesday night in Queens.
The incident occurred on the eve of President Joe Boden visiting New York today to discuss with Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD officials about the rise in armed violence in the most populous city in the country.
The two young men arrested apparently approached the police of 21 years old when stopped at a red light at the Beach intersection 30rd Street and Beach Channel Drive in the Arverne neighborhood, Far Rockaway, around 10: 20 pm on Tuesday, according to sources.
One of the alleged robbers hit the ve driver’s window with a firearm, prompting the off-duty police officer to get out of his car with his own gun drawn. Collie apparently fired several shots without knowing he was in front of an NYPD officer and the officer returned fire, NYPD Department Chief Kenneth Corey said at a news conference yesterday morning.
The policeman was injured in the shoulder. Meanwhile, nearby officers who heard the shots rushed to the scene and found the wounded police officer, who was transported in a patrol car to the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, in stable condition.
The suspects, who were not hit by the shots, they fled, but the members of the police station’s public security team 100 saw them a few blocks away. Collie again opened fire, this time at uniformed officers, shooting at a car, but causing no further injuries.
A weapon was seized at the scene. Upon arrest, Collie was charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment. Robinson, who apparently joined Collie during the robbery, was charged with robbery, authorities said.
The rookie officer, who works in Brooklyn, is the 6th member of the NYPD to be shot so far in 2022, stated New York Post. Two of them died, both Hispanic and young, after responding to a domestic violence incident: Jason Rivera (20) and Wilbert Mora (27), raising the alarms of violence in the city and causing a message of condolences from President Biden.
After the rise of armed violence in 2020 and 2021 particularly among young gang members and/or victims, the 2022 started with the same trend, representing a great challenge for the new Mayor Adams, a former NYPD officer. According to the NYPD, there were 21 incidents of shootings the week of 24 to the 30 in January of this year, an increase of 75% compared to the same period in 2021.