EAST WILLIAMSBURG — An armed suspect was shot and killed by police in East Williamsburg on Sunday morning after officers responded to calls about two gunpoint robberies in the area, according to the NYPD.
Two officers from the nearby 94th Precinct arrived outside the Cooper Park Houses on Debevoise Avenue in East Williamsburg around 7:45 a.m. Sunday, when they spotted Jermaine Johnson, 42, who'd just committed the two stick-ups, according to the NYPD.
Cellphone video captured by a Cooper Park resident shows a man in a white shirt laying on the ground, followed by the sounds of shouting and two gun shots. It is unclear from the video who fired the shots.
Warning: Video contains graphic language and imagery.
Johnson allegedly pistol-whipped one victim and pointed the gun at the head of another, before exchanging fire with police. He fired five times, and police fired 12 to 15 times, hitting the man twice, according to Assistant Chief Jeffrey Maddrey of the NYPD's Patrol Borough Brooklyn North, who spoke at the scene.
Johnson, of Clinton Hill, was rushed to Woodhull Hospital, where he died around 8:45 a.m., police said. The two officers were taken to Elmhurst Hospital for observation, and the two victims were giving their statements to police, Maddrey said.
A .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun was recovered at the scene, according to police.
Gun recovered at scene of this morning's police involved shooting in Brooklyn. More info when available pic.twitter.com/Afj9Y6h2my
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 17, 2016
Darlene Roman, 48, witnessed the shooting, and said the suspect was acting erratic.
"They had no choice," she said of the officers. "It was serious. He was aggressive. He was attacking people for no reason."
Gina Acevedo, 28, was waking up for work when she heard police yelling outside her window, followed by the sound of gunshots. She said she got her grandmother to safety, and called 911.
"The dispatcher could hear the shots over the phone," Acevedo said. "When the shots died down I saw all the cruisers pulling in. When I looked out the window I saw a guy on the floor, laid out. He was grabbing at his wound."
