Off-duty cop shoots mugger, two remain at large

An off-duty NYPD officer was the target of an attempted robbery, but the officer shot one assailant as two others fled and remain on the loose.

Just before 4 a.m. Monday near the corner of Creston Avenue and East 179th Street in the Bronx, Sgt. Esteban Abreu was outside video-chatting with his son when he was accosted by three men, the New York Daily News reported.

Police determined that the three assailants had attempted to steal the officer’s cellphone at knifepoint, according to an NYPD statement. When they discovered his badge, one of the suspects said, “Shoot him, shoot him,” in Spanish.

Abreu then pulled his gun and shot one of the suspects as the other two men, armed with a gun and knife, fled on foot, the NYPD also stated.

“I stayed on the phone with the 911 operator. I gave him a description through the window while [the officer] was standing out there with his weapon drawn and was holding one individual down,” one witness said to NBC.

The suspect who was shot was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, the Daily News stated. Police were able to recover two knives from him, the NYPD added.

Abreu was transported to Jacobi Hospital for evaluation, the police stated.

The remaining at-large suspects, described as Hispanic, ran east on Echo Place; one was wearing a red sweater and a white shirt and carrying a gun, and the other was wearing a black jacket and carrying a knife, the Daily News reported.

A large NYPD response was on the scene, blocking off streets as they conducted the investigation, according to NBC.