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Intended target of NYPD shooting that hit bystanders: ‘The mission was to self-destruct’ – Metro US

Intended target of NYPD shooting that hit bystanders: ‘The mission was to self-destruct’

nypd Officers intervened when Glenn Broadnax tried to run into traffic. Credit: Metro Archive

The deranged man who pretended to point a gun at cops, causing them to accidentally shoot two bystanders near Times Square on Saturday, told police he was trying to kill himself.

Glenn Broadnax, 35, was being pursued by cops after acting “erratically,” weaving in and out of car traffic at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and West 42nd Street about 9:35 p.m.

A patrolling officer observed the Brooklyn resident attempt to get hit by a car and tried to take him into custody.

Broadnax told police that he had “smoked a blunt” and remembered very little of the incident.

“I saw my dead relatives and heard them talking to me, and then I tried to kill myself by jumping in front of cars,” Broadnax told cops, according to a police source. “I had a mission. The mission was to self-destruct, to kill myself.”

Police said Broadnax ran away from the officer and, when more cops arrived, they attempted to corral him.

Donald Romay, who was visiting the city from Florida with his wife, said he saw cops trying to stop Broadnax from getting hit by cars.

“I heard them yelling, trying to say, ‘Stop, don’t do that,'” Romay said.

Police said Broadnax then appeared to reach for something in his pocket.

“He put his hands in his pocket, took out his hand and simulated shooting at the officers,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

Police said they reviewed two videos that showed Broadnax pulling a black object from his coat. Multiple witnesses reportedly told police they believed he had a gun.

“I couldn’t tell exactly [what it was],” said Romay, 49. “To me it looked like he had some kind of weapon.”

In response, one officer fired one shot and another officer shot twice, both missing Broadnax and instead striking bystanders on the northeast corner of the intersection.

Theodora Ray, 54, was hit in the right knee and another bullet grazed 37-year-old Sahar Khoshakhlagh’s left buttock, police said.

Ray was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. Khoshakhlagh was taken to Roosevelt Hospital in stable condition.

The videos, taken by witnesses, showed that Broadnax dropped to the ground during the shooting, police said. He tried to run away again, hiding behind car traffic on Eighth Avenue.

Broadnax was eventually taken down with a Taser fired by a police sergeant at the scene. He had a wallet in his hand, police said.

He was taken to Bellevue in stable condition and labeled as “emotionally disturbed.”

Broadnax was arrested and charged Sunday morning with menacing, obstructing governmental administration, riot, criminal possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Police said Broadnax has 23 prior charges, including robbery and assault.

He has been in and out of jail frequently over the last five years, according to Department of Corrections records.

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