Tuesday, February 12, 2019

NYPD detective shot to death trying to stop a holdup in Richmond Hill






















A NYPD detective was shot and killed, and a sergeant was wounded in a furious gunbattle Tuesday night with an armed robber in Queens, law enforcement sources said.


The death is the first line-of-duty fatality for 2019.


According to sources, police were responding to an armed robbery at a T-Mobile cell phone store at Atlantic Ave. and 121st St. in Richmond Hill at around 6:14 p.m.


A 19-year veteran detective and a squad sergeant were struck by gunfire as at least one suspect holed up inside the store, sources said. A suspect was also shot in the confrontation.




The detective was hit in the chest; he has a wife and two children, sources said. The sergeant was struck by gunfire in the hip. It wasn’t clear if the officers were wearing bullet-proof vests.

Update:

NY Post 


The NYPD detective killed while responding to a robbery in Queens was struck by friendly fire, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said at a press conference Tuesday night.


Detective Brian Simonsen, 42, was fatally shot by a fellow officer while responding to a robbery at a T-Mobile phone store on Atlantic Avenue near 120th Street in Richmond Hill soon after 6 p.m., police said.


A sergeant who responded to the robbery with Simonsen was also shot in the leg during the incident but is expected to recover.


The suspected robber, a 27-year-old with a lengthy rap sheet, was also shot and is in serious condition, authorities said. He was using an imitation gun during the robbery, O’Neill said.

Another update:

NY Daily News
Simonsen and Gorman opened fire on the suspect, and as they retreated from the store, they were struck by bullets from cops outside, O’Neill said.



Simonsen was fatally shot in the chest and Gorman was hit in the hip.


“Make no mistake about it — friendly fire aside, it is because of the actions of the suspect that Detective Simonsen is dead,” said O’Neill, who appeared near tears.
“We lost a very good man,” Mayor Bill de Blasio

The situation by the detective and his partner was under control and the backup panicked and shot at the two cops. This is going to get national attention regarding the issue of the justification of excessive force and the leniency meted by the justice system towards officers who commit it. But mostly this falls on the shoulders of the lousy and distant "leadership" of presidential wannabe Mayor de Blasio.

And this comes a week on the day two decades ago when Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by police who thought his wallet was a weapon.
 
 Sympathies go out to the family of Det. Simonsen, who did a stalwart job tracking down this recidivist criminal.

Well wishes go out to Sgt. Gorman and his family.

As for the stupid knucklehead who got shot. You had it coming.

Another Update:

NY Post

 
The deadly barrage, which officials said unfolded in all of a minute, was the chaotic culmination of Ransom’s interrupted robbery of a T-Mobile store Tuesday night, according to cops.

Ransom, 27, stormed into the Richmond Hill store at about 6 p.m. wearing a black mask, ordered two workers into a back room and tied them up, police sources said.

 Outside, at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and 120th Street, cops alerted by two 911 callers were massing, among them 19-year NYPD veteran Simonsen, who was working on his day off to crack a robbery pattern ahead of a Thursday CompStat meeting, sources said.

Gorman, 31, and two fellow officers were the first to push into the mobile store, which they found abandoned — until Ransom sprang from the back room, pointing the fake gun at them and pulling the trigger, authorities said.

Assuming Ransom’s firearm to be real and simply jammed, the trio took no chances and retreated to the street, where they took up tactical positions along with Simonsen and four other cops, according to police.

Still holding his gun high and dry-firing it, Ransom emerged from the store to find himself in the middle of two waves of blue, with a group of cops including Gorman to his right, and Simonsen among a squad to his left, sources said.
 
Seven officers opened fire, squeezing off a total of 42 rounds.

Gorman fired 11 times. Simonsen shot twice.

“Be advised, I’m shot,” a cop, presumably Gorman, can be heard telling a dispatcher in a police radio recording of the drama, posted to Twitter by @NYScanner. “Please set up a route going to Jamaica [Hospital].”

Though the recording is apparently partially redacted, Simonsen’s voice is never heard above the din of gunfire and frantic calls of “Shots fired!”

The mayhem was over in seconds.

 Once Ransom was down, the toll of the fusillade, all NYPD rounds, became apparent to cops.

Gorman had caught a round in the leg, while Simonsen, who hadn’t been wearing a bulletproof vest, was shot through the chest.

Gorman was treated at Jamaica Hospital, where he remained Wednesday. In the same hospital, Simonsen was pronounced dead, leaving behind a wife and a mother.

 












10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Richmond Hill is one of the worst neighborhoods in Queens. RIP !!

Anonymous said...

Interesting, I didn't realize that detectives respond to crimes in progress; I always thought it was beat cops who did that.

Anonymous said...

"it is because of the actions of the suspect that Detective Simonsen is dead"

You gotta be smoking crack to fall for that one.


If it weren't for the suspect it never would have went down but to go out and say its because of the robber that the Detective is dead.... WOOOOOO reaching for the moon on that one.

JQ LLC said...

Don't forget the usage of the term "friendly fire". This was a term concocted by Rumsfelds defense dept to whitewash the accidental shooting deaths of soldiers by their own troops. This is Richmond Hill, not Fallujah.

And this is a whitewash.

The idiot suspect has been charged with murder. He's an asshole who deserves jail time, but that ain't gonna stick.





Anonymous said...

If it weren't for the suspect it never would have went down but to go out and say its because of the robber that the Detective is dead.... WOOOOOO reaching for the moon on that one.

The idiot suspect has been charged with murder. He's an asshole who deserves jail time, but that ain't gonna stick.

Guess you lawyers never heard of "felony murder"

kapimap said...

41 shots and the perp did not get 1 ?

Talk about slackies jumping the gun. This is what happens when the entire gang shows up,ready to shoot.
Good thing this did not happen after school breaks.

Anonymous said...

Apparently some of you are not familiar wth the charge of Felony Murder. And secondly GFY.

Anonymous said...

A sorry state of affairs! Lack of tactical training. What's happening NYPD? Get your act together!

JQ LLC said...

It should be noted that Det. Simonsen only shot two bullets before he got shot himself. His partner shot eleven and the backup shot the other 28.

When the detective's partner got released from Jamaica Hospital, not one cop showed up to greet him like the NYPD usually does when an officer gets hit. This must have some profound significance

Anonymous said...

Whom robs a cell phone store. It’s 2019. I haven’t had money in my wallet since 2015. I haven’t written a check since 2007. The wife still does. By the way, she was tangentially related to Father Byrnes by marriage. He used to send kids to his room for change. She went. Despite being gorgeous, she wasn’t his type.