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An NYPD Detective has been killed in the line of duty after being shot in a friendly fire incident in Queens.
“It’s a very difficult, painful night for our city,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Detective Brian Simonsen, 42, was investigating a robbery at a T-Mobile store on Atlantic Avenue and 121st Street in Richmond Hill. Simonsen and Sergeant Matthew Gorman saw the suspect holding what turned out to be a fake gun and began to retreat.
Additional officers opened fire and Detective Simonsen was struck in the chest. He was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“Make no mistake about it, friendly fire aside, it’s because of the actions of the suspect that Detective Simonsen is dead,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said.
Sergeant Gorman was shot in the leg and was hospitalized.
The suspect, 27-year-old Christopher Ransom, was also shot and is hospitalized in serious condition. Commissioner O’Neill described Ransom as a “career criminal.”
Detective Simonsen was a 19-year veteran of the NYPD.
Photo Credit: Alice Stockton-Rossini