An armed murder suspect was fatally shot and his girlfriend wounded when police opened fire after a wild chase through the streets of Brooklyn on Thursday, cops said.
In addition to being sought for the slaying of a 21-year-old man in East New York, Christopher Ferguson, 21, was riding shotgun in a vehicle spotted fleeing the Whitman Houses in Fort Greene, where a ShotSpotter device recorded gunfire around 3 p.m., cops said.
Officers picked up the suspect’s tail after spotting the black Honda with Mississippi plates on Fulton St. and Washington Ave. in Clinton Hill, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters.
The pursuing cops were trying to keep a low profile as they called for backup when the Honda’s driver, Ferguson’s 23-year-old girlfriend, suddenly accelerated at a high rate of speed, cops said.
The Honda was spotted running multiple red lights as it fled east into Bedford Stuyvesant before crashing into a black Mercedes double parked on Utica Ave. near Park Place, Maddrey said.
Police in hot pursuit exited their vehicles with their weapons drawn and ordered Ferguson and his girlfriend to get out of the vehicle with their hands up.
As officers approached the vehicle, Ferguson tried getting out of the vehicle with a pistol, but the Honda’s passenger-side door was wedged against the double-parked car.
Trapped inside the car, Ferguson pointed his weapon at police, who fired as any as 19 shots, according to Maddrey.
“That gun was definitely pointed at the officer,” said Maddrey.
One officer ordered his colleagues to cease fire after noticing Ferguson’s girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter in the back seat of the Honda.
“One our officers started yelling, ‘Baby, baby,’ telling our officers to stop firing,” Maddrey said.
Ferguson’s girlfriend tried to make a run for it and was nabbed after sustaining two gunshot wounds to her right thigh, cops said.
Ferguson, the woman and her daughter were taken to Kings County Hospital, where the murder suspect died.
Police said they recovered a pistol with an extended, 30-round magazine that’s illegal in New York State.
Clieon Junior was leaving the Utica Ave. subway station on his way home when he saw police open fire on the suspect.
“They just came out with their guns, didn’t ask any questions and started shooting. Boom, boom, boom, boom,” Junior said.
Maddrey said it was unclear whether Ferguson got a shot off before police fired.
