Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 25-year-old Fort Greene man was sentenced to 11 years in prison for shooting at three New York City Police Officers sitting in an unmarked car while on patrol.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “These three officers were out on patrol, doing what many of our brave members of the New York City Police Department do every day: putting their lives on the line to ensure our safety. For this defendant to attack them so deliberately is truly unconscionable. I will not stand for such wanton violence against anyone in this borough, let alone against those sworn to protect us.”
The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Quashawn Smith, 25, of Fort Greene, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Michael Gary to 11 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision following his guilty plea to second-degree attempted murder on April 17, 2017.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on October 7, 2015, at approximately 10:43 p.m., three officers from the NYPD’s 88th Precinct were on patrol in an unmarked black vehicle near Park Avenue and North Portland Avenue when they saw three men, including the defendant, co-defendant Davon Morrison and another man standing together on the sidewalk, engaged in conversation. Upon driving by, the officers thought they recognized the third man as a local robbery recidivist, so they decided to circle back in their vehicle for a second look.
According to the investigation, when the officers returned, the third man had left the area, and Smith was crossing the street, dragging a piece of luggage. Morrison, meanwhile, was standing on the sidewalk near the officers’ vehicle when he began to gesture with both hands, pointing them like pistols. Smith then backed up, crouched between two parked cars, drew a gun and opened fire at the front of the officers’ vehicle.
The Acting District Attorney said that, at this point, the officers began to return fire at Smith, wounding him. At the same time, their vehicle was shot at from behind, causing the back window to shatter. Having lost sight of Morrison, the officers exited their vehicle and pursued Smith, but he fled the scene. None of the officers were injured in the shooting.
According to the investigation, a .45 caliber pistol was later recovered from underneath a parked car near the location of the shooting. Smith’s DNA was found on the gun.
Smith was apprehended the next day, October 8, 2015, at Beth Israel Hospital, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound. He later admitted to shooting at a black vehicle and tossing a gun under a car while being pursued by police officers. Morrison also was apprehended on October 8, in a nearby apartment. He pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal use of a firearm in April 2017 and is awaiting sentencing.
