NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Police said a man was injured Thursday after being shot by an officer in Marcus Garvey Park in East Harlem.
A uniformed officer was on patrol in the park, at 120th Street and Fifth Avenue, when he shot Daniel Cabrerra, 28, following some kind of struggle, CBS 2’s Alice Gainer reported. The officer was on patrol of the park due to complaints of drug activity, police said.
The incident happened at around 1:30 p.m. in the park near the bell tower.
“As (the officer) was walking up the footpath toward the top of the park, he’s accosted by a male and there’s a struggle,” a police spokesman said.
A police news release said the suspect “suddenly attacked him.”
Sources told CBS 2 the officer spotted two men with some sort of bag, when he was approached by a third man identified as Cabrerra.
“All you heard was a pop,” a witness said.
The witness sitting nearby, who asked not to be identified by CBS 2, said he saw what happened.
“The officer was telling him ‘get back, get back,’ and the guy put his hands toward the officer and then the officer push him back and then mace him, about twice he mace him,” the witness said.
Police confirmed that the officer, an eight-year veteran of the force, used pepper spray on the man.
Another witness, who did not want his name used, said the officer then went to handcuff the man, who appeared shaky on his feet, on the ground.
“The officer put his knee in his back and said, ‘Are you f***ing kidding me?’” the witness said.
But as the officer tried to arrest the man, a struggle ensued, police said. Police said the suspect “violently resisted and attempted to attack the officer once again.”
“But when the guy got up, the shackles went on the side and the officer pulled his gun and shot him right in his chest here,” the witness said.
The witness said he didn’t see the man strike the officer, but police said the man punched the officer in the face at some point during the struggle.
“He does appear to have some sort of redness to his face,” NYPD Chief of Patrol James O’Neill said at a news conference.
The man was taken to Harlem Hospital Center, police said.
The officer was also taken to the hospital for an evaluation.
Sources said the officer saw Cabrerra go for his waistband as if reaching for a weapon, but he did not actually have one.
Sources said Cabrerra has a history of mental illness and a criminal rap sheet. Charges were pending Thursday evening.
As WCBS 880’s Marla Diamond reported, the witness said violence is not uncommon in Marcus Garvey Park, but it rarely involves police.
As for the two men with the bag who ran off, they were apprehended by police and were to be used as witnesses.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Friday, September 5th 2014 at 6:19PM
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