NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- The NYPD officer who was shot over the weekend during an attempted robbery while off-duty in Brooklyn has died, police said Tuesday.
Officer Adeed Fayaz, 26, was a five-year veteran of the force and a married father of two young children who lived on Long Island. He spent days at Brookdale University Hospital fighting for his life.
At the news conference held on Tuesday to announce the gunman's arrest, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said that Fayaz was "in grave condition and is fighting for his life at this moment."
Fayaz was shot in the head Saturday night after apparently being lured to East New York to buy a Honda Pilot he saw on Facebook Marketplace.
Randy Jones, 38, was busted at a Days Inn hotel in Nanuet on Monday after investigators tracked him down there. Sources said his girlfriend has a connection to Rockland County.
Police confirmed his girlfriend was with him at the time, as were her five children, who are between the ages of 6 months and 11 years. She is not currently facing charges, police said.
At a press conference at police headquarters Tuesday, Essig said Jones was cuffed with the injured cop’s handcuffs and hauled down to the 75th Precinct stationhouse in East New York.
He’s awaiting charges as police look to conduct two search warrants in the case, Essig said.
Jones has three prior arrests, including an arrest for strangulation in New York City and two arrests out of Virginia.
Police are investigating his possible connection to similar robberies in the area.
“There are a few other social media, Facebook Marketplace robberies, one that happened just recently—I believe it was early January—just down the block,” Essig said. “There’s also some in southeast Queens that were looking at to see if there’s any connection.”
Essig said Fayaz was off duty when he and his brother-in-law met a bearded man who police believe to be Jones at Ruby Street and Linden Boulevard around 7 p.m. Saturday.
During the meetup, the purported car-seller asked the two men if they were armed, and when they said they weren’t, he put Fayaz in a headlock and pointed a gun at his head while demanding money, Essig said.
When he pointed the gun at Fayaz’s brother-in-law, Fayaz broke free from the headlock, but the man managed to open fire, striking him in the head.
The brother-in-law grabbed a gun from Fayaz’s hip and returned fire at least six times as the would-be robber jumped into the driver’s seat of a black car and sped off, Essig said.
Police were able to crack the case thanks to a dashcam video on the brother-in-law’s car, which is registered with the city Taxi and Limousine Commission. The camera captured the 2011 BMW that the man fled in, and investigators were able to link it back to the suspect’s mother, who lives at the nearby NYCHA Pink Houses, according to Essig. They determined that her son fit the description of the man they were looking for.
The investigation led them to the Days Inn in Rockland County, where Jones was captured with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Essig said.
“We are lifting the family up in prayers,” Mayor Eric Adams told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday. “And right now, the family is deciding their decisions and is still in the care of the medical professionals.”
On Monday, an NYPD cruiser was parked outside the home of the officer in Deer Park, Suffolk County. Some neighbors were too devastated to speak.
“It's a shame,” one resident said. “The police in New York City have a tough enough time as it is.”
Related
Related
Related
