“Sounds kind of like a father protecting his son… It’s sad but it happened.”
A New York father was arrested on Sunday morning for firing at police officers who just killed his son.
NYPD say 45-year-old Raphael Rosado took the gun from the hands of his 24-year-old son Mike as he lay dying to continue the shootout with two off-duty cops.
The incident happened shortly after 4 AM in The Bronx, after the father and son became involved in an argument with a group of men outside a bodega.
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According to NY Daily News, it began as a shouting match, before both sides began throwing bottles at each other; that’s when the younger Rosado went to his car and returned with a gun, and opened fire.
Two plainclothes officers, who had just finished their shift and were leaving the nearby 46th Precinct, saw the commotion and pulled out their weapons; they identified themselves and ordered Mike to drop his gun; he refused and shot at them.
They returned fire, striking him in the chest. It was at this point officers said his father then grabbed the gun and began shooting at the officers; they returned fire once again, but nobody else was hit.
“Immediately after shooting, the officers began rendering aid to the 24-year-old male,” NYPD Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes told a press conference shortly afterward.
He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, but could not be saved.
Surveillance footage shows the father fleeing the scene as a crowd began to gather around his fallen son; it allegedly shows him trying to pass the gun off to a woman, who refuses, and then a second woman, who takes it from him.
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After running around the block and weaving between cars, he returned to the scene in an apparent attempt to blend in with the crowd unnoticed; but police identified him and he was arrested. Charges against him are now pending.
Police sources told NYDN the father has around 60 prior arrests on his record, including drug possession, assault and weapon possession. His son had a handful of arrests, but only for minor offenses such as aggravated driving without a license.
“I wouldn’t say he was a bad (man) but he got into a lot of trouble,” a friend of the father told the outlet. “Sounds kind of like a father protecting his son. … It’s sad but it happened.”
Footage of the aftermath suggests it was lucky more people weren’t hurt, with cars riddled with bullet holes and dozens of spent casings littering the ground.
The two officers involved were taken to Jacobi Medical Center for observation, and treated for ringing in the ears.
Investigators are now looking for Mike Rosado’s original target, as well as the woman who took the gun from his father — both of whom are still missing.
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