Nassau County police officers shot and killed a driver following a chaotic police chase along Sunrise Highway that began in New York City late Friday.
The deadly shooting occurred outside a 7-Eleven on Hicksville Road after police officers chased the driver who they say ran from a traffic stop in Queen, according to Police Commissioner Patrick J. Ryder who revealed some details of the ongoing investigation at a news conference in Massapequa on Saturday.
Images of the scene show the chased vehicle stuck on a beam from the driver losing control after “flying” cross-county, Ryder said. He said the driver, who is unidentified pending family notification of his death, had rammed into two NYPD police officers after they stopped him.
The NYPD then notified Nassau Police that the vehicle was coming their way on Sunrise Highway. Officers from the neighboring police department blocked the suspect with two police cars near Merrick Avenue, and the driver hit them to escape, nearly running over two officers in the process, according to the police commissioner.
As the chase went further down Sunrise Highway, the driver stuck another police vehicle, drove the wrong way down the road, came back and struck an innocent driver, Ryder added. The officer and the civilian are being treated at the hospital but authorities did not disclose their conditions.
The pursuit ended at Hickville Road “at some point,” Ryder continued, and that’s when officers got out of their cars to arrest the suspect who “did not comply.”
“There was a shooting that occurred and that individual died,” the police commissioner concluded.
The suspect and three police officers were transported to the hospital following the incident. Officers were being treated for “trauma” from the shooting, but Ryder didn’t clarify whether they were shot. He also declined to disclose whether the suspect was armed, saying that it’s an ongoing investigation and that the New York Attorney General’s Office has been notified.
When asked for more details of what transpired before officers opened fire, Ryder said video evidence is being compiled and what happened will be revealed in the investigation.
“I don’t want to say something that doesn’t match what the camera says. It will let the video speak for itself,” he said.
