Friendly Fire Killed Bronx Cop In Fatal Struggle, NYPD Says

THE BRONX, NY — NYPD police fired the two bullets that killed Officer Brian Mulkeen during a violent Sunday morning struggle with an armed man, police officials said Monday.

"This is a tragic case of friendly fire," NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill told reporters. "But make no mistake: We lost the life of a courageous public servant solely due to a violent criminal who put the lives of the police and all the people we serve in jeopardy."

The six cops at the scene near the Edenwald Houses public housing complex fired a total of 15 shots at the unidentified suspect, who had fled when officers tried to stop him nearby about 12:30 a.m., according to police officials.

Mulkeen himself shot five of those bullets into the man, who had a loaded gun that was never fired, O'Neill said. His partners fired 10 more rounds, two of which hit the six-year NYPD veteran, the commissioner said.

Both Mulkeen and the man were taken to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead, police said. Cops recovered the other man's loaded .32 caliber revolver, which was bought in Virginia in 1971, said Deputy Chief Kevin Maloney of the NYPD's Force Investigation Division.

Mulkeen died from gunshot wounds in his head and torso, according to the city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. His death was ruled a homicide, which only means that at least one other person was involved in the death, not necessarily that it was a crime.