Police confirmed on Saturday, Nov. 27, that pursuant to an ongoing investigation, a 23-year-old individual was arrested and charged the same day at 1 a.m. in the 48th precinct for the shooting of two police officers in the Belmont section of the Bronx on Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, Nov. 24.

 

Charlie Vasquez, 23, of Clay Street in Brooklyn, was charged with  two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault, two counts of criminal use of a firearm, two counts of criminal possession of a loaded firearm, two counts of reckless endangerment and two counts of menacing.

 

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea held a press conference on the evening of the shooting at St. Barnabas Hospital. Shea said, during the press conference, that the two wounded officers were in a stable condition at St. Barnabas Hospital, where they were brought after the shooting and were expected to make a complete recovery. He also said they were in “in good spirits.”

 

The police commissioner described the incident as it had unfolded, saying, “Within the confines of the 48th precinct at 2405 Beaumont Avenue, a little after 8 p.m. tonight [Nov. 24], a member of the community did what we asked them to do, got involved, called 911, giving a pretty detailed description of an individual, stating that that individual was at this location and had a firearm.”

 

He continued, “You have police officers in uniform from the 48th precinct that respond. Everything is captured on body camera. As they’re walking up, they’re discussing, tactically, how they will approach. and they immediately encounter this individual who is sitting on the front stoop of the building. Within seconds, they are in a gun battle. ”

 

Shea continued, “You have the female police officer that has approximately one year with the force, is immediately struck, in the right arm, in this section right here [gesturing to the upper arm]. She, eventually, is shot twice in that area. She returns fire, we believe, five times. striking the assailant. Her partner, when they immediately approach the individual, before the shots are fired, gives verbal instructions to take his hands out of his pockets and immediately the gun comes out and the shots start. He’s struggling with the individual, wrestling the individual to the ground. ”

 

The police commissioner said that from beginning to end, the incident lasted probably about two or three seconds. “We have the perpetrator who was struck, we believe, three times,” he said. “He went into surgery in this very same hospital. He’s out of surgery. We believe he is going to survive. We have the female officer who is struck twice in the upper right arm. As the mayor said, I can’t believe the good spirits she is in – incredible woman.”

 

A photo of the firearm that was recovered at the scene of the shooting was displayed at the press conference and is also attached. Shea said the gun was reported stolen last year in Georgia and made its way to New York York City “causing carnage on the streets.”

 

He said the female police officer who was shot in the arm was a military veteran as well and is, he understands, currently serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. Shea said the second police officer, an 8-year-veteran, was shot in the chest and displayed the officer’s police vest, showing where the bullet entered his arm pit area and exited his left chest area. He said the bullet wound was within inches of a much different outcome.

 

Of the perpetrator, Shea said, “He was a career criminal with far too many arrests, still on the streets of New York City, as we’ve seen far too many times and I would point out … it would appear to me at this point the community is doing their job by calling the police…..we have two incredibly brave police officers, doing their job, and not complaining a bit right now as they’re laying recovering in a hospital bed, eager to get back to work, and loving what they do, serving the people of New York City. It’s time for the rest of the system to do its job and make the streets as safe as they can be.”

 

For his part, the mayor thanked the staff at the hospital, saying, “They’ve been outstanding supporting our officers, and thank you to those who represent this area. I thank Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Assembly Member José Rivera (A.D. 78), and Council Member Oswald Feliz (C.D. 15) for being here. Thank you for your support.”

 

Thank you @ericadamsfornyc for your clear and balanced approach on safe streets. Our courts must promote justice for *all* including affected communities that are crying for safety! https://t.co/27UHTiwp2W

— Oswald Feliz (@OswaldFeliz) November 24, 2021

 

The mayor said in visiting the wounded officers, who he described as young officers, he saw extraordinary courage. “We’ve looked at the video, and we saw officers doing their job, protecting the people of the City with incredible bravery, and then in the visit to their hospital room, two people of just, extraordinary spirit.. officers who are in this work because they want to protect and save lives. They were not thinking about themselves.”

 

He added, “Each of them have bullet wounds but all they could talk about was their commitment to keeping people safe and why they came on this job and why they believe in it.” In the spirit of Thanksgiving, De Blasio said he wanted to give thanks to the officers and thank all the men and women of the NYPD.

 

“We’ve also got to recognize there are too many guns out there,” the mayor added. “This is another example of a gun from out of State that comes into our City, hurts a New Yorker. This is something we’ve got to deal with in a whole different way. In the meantime, thank God there is one more shooter off the streets because of the bravery of these absolutely extraordinary officers. You’ll get to know them in the days ahead. God Bless them. We are blessed to have them in our police force.”

 

Please pray for the recovery of the two officers who were shot in my neighborhood of Belmont. We must fully support the next Mayor, @ericadamsfornyc, as he seeks to crush the epidemic of violence that has taken hold in the Bronx and elsewhere in the City. https://t.co/lKPfI9NqfN

— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) November 25, 2021

Pat Lynch, police union leader, police officer, and president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, then spoke, saying, “First off, we’ve started off a holiday tradition… Unfortunately, a holiday tradition is spending Thanksgiving in an emergency room next to the bed of police officers that were shot.”

 

He continued, “Again, remember last time, we were also there on Christmas Eve. It has to stop. Yes, we saw police officers do their job heroically. We saw police officers that cared about each other first. ‘How is my partner?’ And then, [they] rendered aid to the perp that tried to kill them. Yes, there’s too many guns on the street but we’ve lost the element of surprise. The problem is yes, there’s too many guns on the street, but the perps aren’t afraid to carry them.”

 

Lynch concluded, “They’re not afraid to put it in their belt, put it in their pocket, and pull it out on a police officer. That’s the problem. It has to be recognized. We have to correct the political mistakes that were made in the past, so we stop losing police officers and we stop spending the holidays praying for their recovery.”

 

Cop shot at in my district, right before Thanksgiving. As someone who reps a high-crime district, will always be grateful for the @NYPDnews. While “politicians” who live in crime-free neighborhoods attack them for corny political points, cops risk their lives to keep us safe. pic.twitter.com/yTSZrXnzvM

— Oswald Feliz (@OswaldFeliz) November 25, 2021

 

When questioned about the sequence of events that led up to the shooting, Shea explained that the perpetrator was asked to take his hands out of his pockets as the officers approached the building and opened the front gate, before the first shots were fired. He said as the perpetrator’s hands came out of his pockets holding the gun, he stood up and the shots were then fired.

 

He said everything happened in a matter of seconds and investigators still had to slow down and examine the footage further but that it appeared initially that the first shot hit the female police officer, and she immediately returned fire five times. He said the male officer did not appear at that point to have fired any shots as he was trying to wrestle the assailant, and that the perpetrator used his weapon four times.

 

Shea added, “What strikes you, as you watch that video is the speed with which it happens, and the no regard for human life. You have two New York City police officers at 8 o’clock in the evening on Thanksgiving Eve, walking up to an individual, in uniform, on a Bronx street, and immediately, that individual takes out a gun and starts shooting.”

 

He added, “If that doesn’t tell you, we have to take a second look… there is no fear on the streets right now and we can take guns off the streets and fill up truckloads, until we start putting some of these individuals in jail, we’re going to have a tragedy.  We have a 13-year-old shot yesterday. It was the same story.”

 

The two officers who were shot are in stable condition. Every New Yorker owes them a debt of gratitude for their selflessness and service. https://t.co/KSvbbLF64Z

— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) November 25, 2021

 

Asked for the history of the perpetrator’s prior record, the police commissioner said they would provide that detail in due course but that he had “had many, many arrests with a multitude of offenses.” He added, “The individual is sitting on the streets of the Bronx, terrorizing the community. Again, this started with a member of the community doing exactly what they should do, picking up the phone, getting involved, calling 911, and saying, ‘Please come. There’s a guy here with a gun’.”

 

Torres later tweeted that evening, “Please pray for the recovery of the two officers who were shot in my neighborhood of Belmont. We just fully support the next Mayor, @ericadamsfornyc, as he seeks to crush the epidemic of violence that has taken hold in the Bronx and elsewhere in the City.”

 

The same evening, Sally Goldenberg of Politico reported that Adams, once in office, reportedly said that when he appoints criminal court judges, he will be clear that they should not be political but rather focused on clearing crime and not allowing violent criminals to be back on the streets through lack of bail.

 

There’s a lot to be thankful for this #Thanksgiving .Last night, a gunman fired on officers in the Bronx. Two were struck. Today, one hospitalized officer is going home just in time to be w/family for the holiday – but not before receiving a hero’s walk-out from her blue family. pic.twitter.com/hZrRaygqQQ

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) November 25, 2021

In response, Feliz tweeted, “Thank you @ericadamsfornyc for your clear and balanced approach on safe streets. Our courts must promote justice for *all* including affected communities that are crying for safety!”

 

Feliz had also tweeted earlier that evening, “At @SBHBronx with Congressman @RitchieTorres and @NYPDShea for presser about recent shooting. Keeping the two NYPD officers involved in my prayers, and wishing them a fast recovery.”

 

He also later tweeted, “Cop shot at in my district, right before Thanksgiving. As someone who reps a high-crime district, will always be grateful for the @NYPDnews. While “politicians” who live in crime-free neighborhoods attack them for corny political points, cops risk their lives to keep us safe.”

Less than 48 hours after being shot while confronting an armed suspect in the Bronx, our officer left the hospital to cheers from his family in blue as he returns home to recover surrounded by loved ones. pic.twitter.com/VkCH77HHND

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) November 26, 2021

Both injured police officers, whose names were not immediately disclosed, have since been released from hospital on different days. Cops lined the streets to applaud them as they exited the hospital.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.