NYPD officers fatally shot a reputed gangbanger eyed for two murders and wounded his female driver during a wild car chase through Brooklyn Thursday — all the while a baby sat in the pair’s back seat, according to police and sources.
The violence unfolded when police spotted the duo’s car wanted for a prior shooting and tried to pull it over near Fulton Street and Washington Avenue in Crown Heights around 3 p.m., NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters.
Instead, the driver sped up, ran red lights, and ended up cutting through several blocks before eventually getting stuck in traffic on Utica Avenue and Park Place, Maddrey said.
When cops surrounded the vehicle with “guns drawn,” a violent 21-year-old member of the Cyprus Backside Gang emerged from the passenger seat wielding a gun, while a tot casually sat in the backseat, according to police and sources.
“The person in the passenger seat tries to exit the vehicle but they couldn’t open the vehicle all the way because of a double-parked vehicle, but that person did have a gun in his hand and he pointed it at our officers,” Maddrey said.
“At this point, our officers started firing. They’re giving commands to drop the weapon, to show their hands.”
Cops unleashed around 18 bullets, striking the gunman several times and killing him.
Police said the female driver fled the vehicle and got blasted with two shots in the thigh.
“While our officers were engaged, one of our officers started yelling ‘baby, baby!’ and told officers to stop firing,” Maddrey said.
“The officer who was yelling was trying to take control of the scene and to tell officers — to alert other officers that there was a baby in the vehicle, to slow down.”
The baby was safe and taken to a local hospital for evaluation, he added. Police did not provide an age for the tot.
The female driver was rushed to an area hospital in stable condition after police chased her during “a short pursuit.”
Maddrey said the shooter was wanted for a “vicious homicide” that was caught on camera in March near East New York and Cypress Hills.
“He’s been wanted and on the run since March, and he was apprehended today by members of the 84th Precinct,” the chief said.
Sources told The Post the gunman, who has not been named pending family notification, was a suspect in a slew of other violent crimes in Brooklyn including another murder in 2021.
He has nine past arrests, police sources said.
