Cop And Teen Shot With Single Bullet In The Bronx: NYPD

THE BRONX — A teenager and a cop were shot Tuesday night when the officer asked the 16-year-old to take his hands out of his pocket, the teen refused, and a struggle ensued, high ranking city officials said.

Six uniformed officers confronted the 16-year-old on the corner of Lorillard Place and East 187th Street where a large crowd had assembled about 9:30 p.m., Commissioner Keechant Sewell said a at a midnight press conference.

"It is the second time I've had to come to the hospital for an officer shot," Sewell said, who has led the NYPD for just 18 days. "There are too many illegal guns on the streets of New York City, and all too often those who are carrying them are young."

Officers tried to force the teen to show his hands and in the struggle the teen fired a single shot that hit him in the groin and a cop, a 4-year NYPD veteran, in the leg, Sewell said.

Both the teen and the officer were rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital and are expected to survive, the commissioner said.

Mayor Eric Adams joined the NYPD commissioner at St. Barnabas early Thursday morning to decry the prevalence of illegal guns in the city.

Adams professed frank frustration that the teenager had been arrested for possession of a gun when he was 14-years old and in December had been placed on probation for the same offense.

"Something is wrong with that," Adams said. "What is it going to take before we finally realize that we are endangering the lives of children?"