An NYPD officer has been busted for attempted murder for shooting a driver in New Jersey in a road rage confrontation, authorities said Friday.
The officer, Hieu Tran, who works in the social media unit for the NYPD’s press office, has been suspended without pay.
He was scheduled to appear at an extradition hearing in Manhattan Friday. Tran was also charged with aggravated assault and weapons possession for an unlawful purpose.
The shooting happened May 17 in Voorhies Township, the Camden County prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The victim, a 30-year-old man, was involved in a multi-vehicle crash at Route 73 and Cooper Road, with responding police officers quickly realizing the victim had been shot before the crash, the statement said.
“During the investigation, detectives utilized surveillance video, cell phone records, and ballistics evidence to identify Tran as the individual responsible for shooting the victim during an apparent road rage incident,” the release said. “Ballistics evidence collected from the scene was ultimately linked to Tran’s department-issued firearm.”
The victim was rushed after the incident to Cooper University Hospital. The release said he is still in treatment.
Tran was arrested Thursday shortly after he was seen talking to the department’s top spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard.
The 27-year-old officer was assigned to DCPI, the department’s press office, last December and has been on the force since February 2021.
