An NYPD officer was shot in the leg by a suspect while executing a domestic violence search warrant in Brooklyn Friday morning, police said.
The victim and other NYPD officers were in an unmarked car in Bedford-Stuyvesant when they saw the suspect, Kelvin Stichel, 33, on the street around 6:40 a.m. Stichel fled after seeing the officers, who pursued him first by vehicle, then on foot, NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said.
#HappeningNow: @NYPDONeill provides the press and public a briefing on the incident that occurred in #Brooklyn earlier this morning pic.twitter.com/3VA0s9Xfr8
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 6, 2018
The officers asked Stichel, who has several prior arrests that include domestic violence robbery with a gun and assaulting a police officer, to show his hands as they approached him on Decatur Street.
“The suspect then displayed a gun and shot at the officers, striking a detective once in the leg,” O’Neill said at a press conference. “The detective returned fire, as did two other officers, and the suspect ran away.”
After a search of the area, Stichel was taken into custody in a hallway in a Kingston Avenue building, and his firearm was recovered nearby, O’Neill said.
Both the unidentified NYPD officer, a seven-year veteran of the force, and Stichel are expected to survive. The bullet that struck the officer, who is being treated at Kings County Hospital, appears to have gone straight through his thigh, “an in-and-out wound,” O’Neill said.
Charges are pending for Stichel, who was most recently released from prison in May 2014 after a stint for criminal possession of a controlled substance. He previously served time for attempted robbery.
Both Stichel and his unidentified girlfriend were known to police, sources told NBC4. He had a warrant for arrest in connection to an alleged domestic violence robbery, while she was wanted for robbery. Several weeks ago, she pepper-sprayed officers attempting to arrest her before she and Stichel fled.
Police said they are not looking for additional suspects in the shooting.
A police officer has been injured & transported to an area hospital in Brooklyn. Please expect a police presence and avoid the area of Decatur St & Tompkins ave. More information to follow once available. pic.twitter.com/LcbxVBwoZN
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 6, 2018
Update: There are no outstanding suspects at this time. We will be providing an update from Kings County Hospital later this morning.
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 6, 2018
