An NYPD officer on an anti-looting patrol was ambushed Wednesday in Flatbush by a man who walked up behind him and stabbed him in the neck, police said, setting off a struggle in which the assailant was shot and two other officers suffered gunshot injuries to their hands.
The bloodshed happened on Church Avenue and Flatbush Avenue just before midnight in the hours after an 8 p.m. curfew that was intended to quell days of unrest over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.
Two senior law enforcement sources identified the suspect as Dzenan Camovic, an immigrant from the Balkan region. One senior source said Camovic had recently shared anti-police sentiments on his social media feeds. According to report by the NY Post, the suspect is a practicing Muslim.
Authorities investigating the attack are looking into whether it was an ISIS-inspired attack, NBC was reporting. A terror-linked motivation is currently one theory for what may have happened, though nothing has been ruled in or out, the sources said.
All three injured officers were expected to recover. The man who attacked them was shot multiple times and was hospitalized in critical condition, said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
“What we know at this point and time is that it appears to be a completely, cowardly, despicable, unprovoked attack on a defenseless police officer and thank God we aren’t planning a funeral right now,” Shea said.
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He noted that it was one of several attacks on police officers in recent days, including one in which a driver plowed into a police sergeant who was trying to stop looting in the Bronx and a lieutenant who was struck in the helmet by a brick during a brawl with protesters in Manhattan.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who appeared with Shea outside the hospital where the officers were being treated, called it a “very tough night” and lauded the officers for their bravery.
Some details of how the attack unfolded were still unclear, but Shea said the man casually approached two officers stationed in the area to prevent looting around 11:45 p.m. and stabbed one of them.
Officers a short distance away heard gunshots, rushed to the scene and saw the man with a gun in his hand, believed to have been taken from one of the officers, Shea said. The responding officers then opened fire.
The commissioner said 22 shell casings were recovered. He didn’t say whether the officers’ hand wounds came from the guns of fellow officers.
Shea didn’t speculate on the motive of the stabber, who was not identified, but Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch blamed anti-police rhetoric during the protests.
“Are we surprised? Are we surprised we’re here in the hospital again. Did we doubt because of the rhetoric we’re hearing, the anti-police rhetoric that’s storming our streets, are we surprised that we got this call? I’m not. We said it’s going to happen,” he said.
The FBI has since released a statement about the incident.
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8 Responses
Mostly “peaceful”, I guess?
Balkan near Nozambia?
A New York court won’t convict, and when Biden becomes president they will probably be pardoned and given medals for fighting the forces opposing political correctness.
Democrats help these kind of people. Vote GOP down the ballot in November.
An attack on a police officer should be defending him with lethal force. We can explore the origins, terror, ISIS, and all the rest. But it must be known that attacking a police officer is forfeiting life. That will make a dent in these attacks.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who appeared with Shea outside the hospital where the officers were being treated, called it a “very tough night” What a great opportunity was squandered by de Blasio, when he should have taken the wonderful opportunity & venue to announce his immediate resignation from mayoralty, which should no longer even be a tough decision to make.
the so called peaceful protests against police violence has become a fertile ground for all the anti social elements and petty criminals to come out and wreck havoc on a basically decent society.
Black Lives might Matter, but keep society straight and honoring law and order is more important.
So sad how he is immediately linked and pinpointed to a terrorist group for his religion and beliefs. If it was a Christian man, he would never be linked to the KKK.