NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Christopher Ransom, the suspect who brandished an imitation gun while robbing a Queens cell phone store where an NYPD detective was killed Tuesday in a "tragic case of friendly fire," has been charged with second degree-murder, 1010 WINS has confirmed.
He was also charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, assault, second-degree aggravated manslaughter and menacing, the NYPD said Wednesday night.
The NYPD is mourning the death the detective -- 42-year-old Brian Simonsen, married and veteran of the NYPD for 19 years -- who was shot and killed while investigating a robbery at a Queens cellphone store in what police commissioner James O'Neill said was a "tragic case of friendly fire" Tuesday night.
As for funeral arrangements, the family will receive friends on Monday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, February 20, at 10 a.m. All services, including the wakes, will be held at St. Rosalie Roman Catholic Church, located at 31 East Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays. Interment will follow at Jamesport Cemetery.
RELATED: A timeline of the deadly officer shooting | Tributes pour in for fallen NYPD detective | Suspect in deadly NYPD encounter has lengthy rap sheet
Sgt. Matthew Gorman, who also responded along with other officers, was shot in the leg.
Both Simonsen and Gorman were transported to Jamaica Medical Center, where Simonsen was pronounced dead. Gorman was in stable condition.
Sources tell 1010 WINS the suspect is 27-year-old Christopher Ransom, a career criminal with an extensive criminal record that includes arrests for criminal impersonation, larceny and fraud.
One of Ransom's priors was for impersonating a police officer; his reported nickname is "Detective." Sources tell 1010 WINS that he may have been part of a team being sought in a robbery pattern.
Ransom was shot multiple times by police and was in stable condition at a hospital.
“Make no mistake about it, friendly fire aside, it is because of the actions of the suspect that Detective Simonsen is dead,” O’Neill said.
Law enforcement sources tell 1010 WINS that this is Christopher Ransom in another robbery from January.
Police say Simonsen and Gorman were working on another case and in plain clothes at about 6:10 p.m. Tuesday when they heard reports of a robbery at a T-Mobile store nearby.
A caller standing outside the store reported seeing a suspect who was dressed in all black and carrying a duffel bag force two employees into a back room at gunpoint, according to dispatcher audio.
Simonsen and Gorman arrived before patrol officers and went into the store after seeing nobody through the windows, sources say.
Inside they encountered a man matching the suspect's description, according to police, who said the suspect emerged from the back of the store and stimulated firing at police with a firearm that was later determined to be fake. Simonsen and Gorman opened fire, though it's unclear if they hit the suspect.
TIMELINE: Last night's police shooting minute-by-minute
Simonsen and Gorman were backing out of the store when patrol officers, who had since arrived at the scene, opened fire and struck Simonsen, sources say.
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, O'Neill said seven officers fired 42 shots. He said the officers were wearing body cameras at the time.
The gunfire riddled the store with bullet holes and blew out the store's doors, showering the sidewalk with glass.
"Shots fired! Shots fired!'' an officer can be heard heard yelling on dispatch audio over a barrage of gunshots.
Gorman told dispatchers he'd been hit and another officer screamed for dispatchers to rush an ambulance to the scene.
O'Neill said Simonsen had not been wearing a bulletproof vest, as the department requires. He was shot in the chest.
At Jamaica Hospital, officers guarded the emergency room entrance as O'Neill and de Blasio met with Gorman and offered their condolences to Simonsen's wife and mother.
"It was heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking,'' de Blasio said. "His mom, who has suffered so much. His wife. The shock that they're feeling was so painful to see.''
Police said Simonsen should’ve been off Tuesday for a union meeting but that he opted to go to work so he could continue tracking a string of recent robberies in the 102nd Precinct, Detectives' Endowment Association President Michael Palladino said.
"He didn’t have to be at work today," Palladino said.
Hundreds of officers gathered at the hospital, where they silently saluted Simonsen.
A deli worker who knew Simonsen was devastated by the news of his death. He told 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck about his friend, who he just saw last Tuesday.
"We're going to close down for a couple hours to pray for him," the worker said. "He always asked how are things going and if anybody bothering us. He always there for everybody."
The worker said he's so upset he can't sleep. He has a photo with Simonsen on his phone that he says he will never take off.
"I just miss this guy. I can't believe I'm not going to see him anymore," he said.
Simonsen was an organ donor and his organs were harvested at the hospital Wednesday. A motorcade was to accompany his body to the funeral home later in the day.
The last NYPD officer killed in the line of duty was a 12-year veteran and mother of three who was gunned down in 2017 while sitting in a police vehicle.In December, a police officer on Staten Island survived being hit by friendly fire as officers responding to a domestic dispute call shot and killed a man carrying a knife.