By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- NYPD Detective Robert Karroll, a 20-year veteran, was shot in his bulletproof vest early Sunday morning July 5 when an 18-year-old gunman approached his unmarked police vehicle near Nostrand Avenue and St. John’s Place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and opened fire.
- Karroll was struck in the back of his vest; the ballistic protection saved his life and he is expected to make a full recovery.
- Officers returned fire but did not strike the suspect; the teen fled and was apprehended moments later near Rogers Avenue and Union Street after being subdued with a Taser.
- A second officer was injured during the confrontation with bruising to her face and shoulder; a 9-millimeter firearm was recovered from the suspect.
- NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that the shooting was not captured on police body-worn cameras and that investigators are piecing together the circumstances of the gunman’s approach.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Detective Robert Karroll of the NYPD was shot in his bulletproof vest early Sunday morning as an armed teenager approached an unmarked police vehicle in Crown Heights and opened fire without warning.
The incident occurred around 4:10 a.m. near Nostrand Avenue and St. John’s Place. Karroll, assigned to the NYPD Sex Offender Monitoring Unit, was working with other officers on a Fourth of July detail aimed at reducing crew violence in the area.
An 18-year-old male approached the unmarked black Kia SUV occupied by the officers and discharged a firearm at the vehicle. Karroll was struck in the back by a round that struck his ballistic vest. A second officer sustained bruising to her face and shoulder during the incident.
Officers exited the vehicle and returned fire but did not strike the suspect. Three officers discharged weapons, but surveillance footage and ballistic evidence confirmed the teen was not struck by police gunfire.
Officers pursued the suspect on foot and apprehended him near Rogers Avenue and Union Street. Officers deployed a Taser to subdue the suspect before taking him into custody. Police recovered a 9-millimeter firearm from the suspect. Charges against the 18-year-old are pending.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch held a press conference Sunday morning and praised the protective performance of Karroll’s ballistic vest. “His ballistic vest performed exactly as it was designed. And today that vest saved his life,” Tisch stated. “I am grateful to report that he is expected to make a full recovery.”
Tisch stated that surveillance footage showed the suspect armed with a gun approximately five minutes before the shooting. The commissioner noted that investigators are still piecing together the circumstances of how the teen approached the police vehicle.
“Given the lack of body-worn camera in this incident, the circumstances of the approach are still unclear,” Tisch said. Ballistic damage to the police vehicle included bullet holes in the front and rear windshields and the passenger side.
Detectives conducted interviews with neighborhood residents. One witness stated he observed the suspect running with a firearm while waiting at a bus stop near St. John’s Place and Rogers Avenue. The witness described officers pursuing and ordering the suspect to stop as he fled westbound with the gun visible.
Mayor Mamdani addressed the shooting and acknowledged the demands placed on officers during the Fourth of July holiday period. “Det. Karroll, and so many others, have been working 12-hour shifts since yesterday afternoon, protecting New Yorkers on the Fourth of July,” the mayor stated. He identified Karroll as a husband and father of three children.
Scott Munro, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, issued a statement responding to the shooting. “This has to stop. Our members are out there day and night, hours and hours, protecting the people of the city of New York, doing a job that they took an oath to take, and they need to be respected,” Munro stated.
The shooting occurred nine years to the day after NYPD Detective Miosotis Familia was fatally shot in 2017 as she sat in a mobile command center on a Bronx block experiencing heightened violence. Familia was a 12-year veteran of the department.