Man Killed By NYPD, Cop Shot In Shootout After Hours-Long Standoff

NEW YORK CITY — A tense Lower Manhattan standoff ended with NYPD officers fatally shooting a gunman, who in turn popped off a bullet that hit a cop, officials said.

The suspect — Kent Edwards, 43 — had holed himself inside an Eldridge Street apartment Thursday, where police had tracked him down to arrest him in an unrelated shooting in an Upper East Side bar, said NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey.

Edwards barricaded himself in a bathroom and swatted down police-sent drones and cameras over several hours, Maddrey said.

The standoff ended when Edwards left the bathrooms, firing four shots, which hit police shields and one cop in a bulletproof vest, Maddrey said.

"We don't know if that projectile was as a result of a direct hit, or if it was a ricochet," he said of the cop hit by a bullet.

Police fired two shots that hit Edwards and used a shield to pin him down, Maddrey said. He was rushed to a hospital, but died at 2:55 p.m. that day, he said.

The cop struck by a bullet is doing well in a local hospital, Maddrey said.

Edwards has a long criminal history, including arrests for rape and strangulation, police officials said. He had an active warrant for failing to register as a sex offender, they said.

The bar shooting for which Edwards faced a warrant unfolded Oct. 17 inside Iggy's Bar on Second Avenue between East 75th and 76th streets, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.

Edwards had argued with a couple inside the bar over a photo booth, Kenny said. He eventually shot the man in his left leg and pistol whipped him, Kenny said.