A culture that coddles — and emboldens — criminals led to the Christmas Eve shooting of an NYPD officer in Brooklyn, according to the head of the city’s largest police union.
The 27-year-old cop was saved by his bulletproof vest after being shot in the back while responding to a domestic dispute just after 9 p.m. Thursday in Crown Heights, police said.
Flanked by Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials at Kings County Hospital, Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said afterward that the suspect had no fear of shooting at New York’s finest.
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“Why does a perp feel bold enough to shoot at a police officer? That’s the question we have to ask and we have to answer. There’s a number of reasons [why] this is happening. Lack of support on the street, defunding the police, bail reform, lack of prosecution. That’s why this is happening,” Lynch said.
Authorities say the life of 27-year-old NYPD Officer Connor Boalick was likely saved by a bulletproof vest.
The suspect, identified as William Moss, shot the officer after his girlfriend’s mother called police to alert them that he threatened to come over and open fire, according to police sources.
The officers were talking to the younger woman when Moss arrived, shot the cop and fled, the sources said.
Police chased Moss to nearby Prospect Place, where they fired several shots at him and took him into custody.
Lynch said he thinks criminals are emboldened putting the lives of officers at risk.
“There has to be fear in the hearts of the perps that they know if they shoot at a police officer, they won’t walk the streets,” he said.
The wounded officer is being treated at the hospital.
“A man threatened his girlfriend and because the NYPD was there, that woman is alive right now,” de Blasio said at the hospital.
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“Our officer, thank God, is going to be OK … As you saw today, the NYPD saved someone’s life,” the mayor said.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea held up the officer’s protective vest at the press conference to show where the bullet had been lodged.