Charlie Vasquez is accused of using a stolen gun from Georgia during the Bronx shooting
Saturday saw the arrest of a suspect who used a stolen gun in an New York City gunfight that left two NYPD officers with injuries.
Charlie Vasquez (23 years old) was taken into custody within the 48th Precinct. A New York Police Department spokeswoman confirmed this to Fox News Digital. Two counts of attempted murder, assault and criminal use of firearms, criminal possession with a weapon: loaded firearm, reckless danger, menacing and criminal possession are the charges against him. The incident was captured on video. He was described by police as a “career crime.”
Vasquez sustained injuries in the shootout he allegedly started last Wednesday. He had already undergone surgery.
Police said that Officers Alejandra Jacobs (military veteran) and Robert Holmes (officer) were both injured but expected to make a complete recovery. Jacobs, a U.S. Air Force Reserves veteran who was with the NYPD for one-year, was shot twice in her right arm. She was released from St. Barnabas Hospital and was cheered as she was taken outside.
Holmes, an eight year veteran of the police force, was released on Friday. At a Wednesday press conference, NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot shea displayed the bullet hole in Holmes’ bloodied shirt. He explained that Holmes was shot in the right armpit and that the bullet exited his left chest.
Shea stated that “what we know about this individual is that he’s a career criminal with far to many arrests still on New York City streets as we have seen far too often.” “It seems to me that the community is doing its job by calling police. Two brave police officers are doing their job. They’re not complaining at all right now, as they lie in hospital recovering. It’s now that the rest of our system can do their job and keep the streets safe.
Surveillance video shows the officers approaching the suspect around 8 p.m. Wednesday, Bronx.
Shea stated that a caller from the community dialed 911 in order to report a person with a gun. Officers arrived and approached the man sitting on the steps of the building matching the description of the caller. The video shows one officer opening the gate and giving instructions to the man to get his hands out his pockets.
Shea stated that the suspect took out his gun and began firing immediately.
Video captures the male officer wrestling the individual to the ground. The female officer is hit in the upper right arm. She then fires back. Investigators believe that she fired five shots. Police released a photo taken from the scene of the loaded firearm, which Shea claimed was stolen in Georgia and had somehow made it to New York City to “cause chaos on the streets.”
Shea stated, “There’s no fear in the streets at the moment.” We can remove guns from the streets and load up trucks with them. We will have a tragedy unless we put some of these people in jail.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Pat Lynch, President of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, and Bill de Blasio addressed the media. This shooting was similar to another in which two officers were hurt on New Year’s Eve last year at the 105th Precinct.
“We have started a holiday tradition. Lynch stated that the holiday tradition involves spending the holiday next to a shot-in-the-back police officer in an emergency room. Lynch said that although guns are available on the streets, perps don’t hesitate to carry them. They won’t hesitate to carry it around on their belts, place it in their pockets and pull it out of a police officer. This is the problem.
The union leader stated, “We must correct the political errors that were made in past so we don’t lose police officers and stop spending holidays praying for their recovery.”
