The NYPD sergeant who accidentally fired his gun during an operation to remove anti-Israel protesters from Columbia University on Tuesday night switched his weapon from one hand to the other as he tried to unlock his office door. Officials announced that the slug was accidentally sent flying.
The “seasoned” officer, who served as a sergeant in the department’s emergency services for eight years, was seen holding a 9mm handgun with a flashlight attached to other police officers in a locked office on the ground floor of the Ivy League university’s Hamilton campus. He was helping officials enter and exit. Hall and ESU Commander Carlos Valdez told reporters Friday.
Valdez said his team had already broken the window and the sergeant was able to reach through the hole in the glass and unlock the office door from the inside.
He realized he needed his right hand to do so, so he switched the gun to his left hand, police officials said.
“[That’s] When an unintentional release occurs,” Valdez said.
“The bullet hit the office glass and entered the office they were trying to enter.”
“After the firearm was discharged, the sergeant immediately assessed the team and determined that no one was injured,” the chief added.
“The team accessed the office and found no one inside. In this case, the bullet landed on the floor of the office and did not fly anywhere else. It was clear that it wasn’t the case.”
The sergeant continued his mission, made sure no one was in the building, and alerted his superiors “at the first opportunity,” Valdez said.
“At no time were our police officers, the public or protesters in any danger,” Valdez said.
“This was completely unintentional.”
He added that the sergeant involved will receive counseling and be sent for retraining.
By the time the sergeant cleared his patrol, Columbia University students and other protesters had already moved to other parts of the building, including the lobby and main entrance area, said Carlos Nieves, the NYPD’s deputy public affairs officer. It is said that he was made to do so.
A total of 109 people were arrested in Tuesday night’s operation, which included the final evacuation of the encampment on the campus lawn, the first of many other elites since the camp was set up in mid-April. This is a nationwide trend that has begun at universities.
Anti-Semitism Controversy at Columbia University: Key Events
- More than 280 anti-Israel demonstrators were handcuffed overnight at Columbia University and its New York City campus in a “massive” operation by the New York City Police Department.
- New York City Mayor Eric Adams and police arrested 19 people at the Ivy League campus late Tuesday after police responded to a request by the Columbia government to help remove a disruptive mob that had illegally occupied the Hamilton Hall academic building. announced that he had been arrested.
- Hitzoner blamed the chaos on campus on insurrectionists who have a “history of escalating situations and trying to cause chaos” rather than protesting peacefully.
- Columbia University President Minoush Shafik, facing growing calls for his resignation for not taking action sooner, issued a statement Wednesday saying the violence on campus “brought the university to the brink.” did.
- Columbia University President Minoush Shafik has been accused of “gross negligence” during his testimony before Congress. Shafik declined to say whether the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is anti-Semitic.
- More than 100 Columbia University professors have signed a letter defending students who support Hamas’s “military action.”
The morning after the surgery, and a similar removal at the City University of New York, Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD officials briefed the media but did not mention the accidental discharge.
“I think we could have talked about it, but I don’t remember it coming up organically at that press conference,” Deputy Public Affairs Secretary Tariq Shepard said Friday.
“First of all, we generally do not issue any kind of release for accidental discharges.”
“I always knew it would happen, because it always has,” he added.
Douglas Cohen, a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, said Thursday night that the office’s Police Accountability Unit was investigating the shooting, saying, “It is our policy to investigate incidents like this.” said.
