A teen driver on a suicide bid was shot and wounded by police after crashing his car and flashing a gun at officers in upper Manhattan early Thursday, NYPD officials said.
The 19-year-old man, who had a young woman as a passenger, got into an accident on the service road of the Henry Hudson Parkway, just before 3 a.m., NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell told reporters.
Police responded to the crash, with one officer approaching the front passenger side of the car, and the other walking up to the driver’s side.
That’s when the driver “jumps out of the car in possession of a firearm,” Chell said.
“Our officers defend themselves [and] have to discharge their firearms, strike the perp two times in the chest area.”
The man was taken to a local hospital, where he was admitted for surgery and expected to survive, Chell said.
Inside the car — which may have been stolen — authorities found a handwritten suicide note that included an apology for the cops the disturbed driver expected to confront him, the police official said.
“Right now, inside that vehicle, we do have a note indicating that the individual wanted to commit suicide – various things were going on his life,” Chell said. “But he also apologized to our cops for what was about to happen.”
Two uniformed officers opened fire during the ordeal – and about eight rounds were fired, cops said.
The woman who was inside the car with the teen was taken to a local precinct station house, and has “given us some insight as to what happened here,” Chell said.
“The second time in four days, our cops respond to help people from their community, and are met with an immediate attack and they have to defend themselves,” the police official said, referring to another police shooting early Sunday in Queens.
In that incident, an unhinged man, Courtney Gordon, 38, used a steak knife to butcher four of his relatives — including an 11-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy — and set their home ablaze before he injured two police officers and was shot dead by responding cops.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.