A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: President Donald Trump's lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House West Wing July 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Giuliani did an on-camera interview with One America News Network's Chanel Rion before talking to other journalists about Vice President Joe Biden and the news that Russian intelligence may have paid Taliban operatives to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Vigils & tributes to George Floyd one year since his murder ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Here's what reported grand jury in Trump case may look like NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: People walk past the Trump Tower as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins in Washington on February 09, 2021 in New York City. After listening to nearly four hours of legal arguments, the Senate has voted on Tuesday to move ahead with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict in the Middle East from Cross- Hall of the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Israel and Hamas announced that they would agree to a cease-fire, which will take into effect on Friday, following days of fighting that claimed more than 200 lives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 26: A view of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light-rail yard where a mass shooting occurred on May 26, 2021 in San Jose, California. A VTA employee opened fire at the yard, with preliminary reports indicating nine people dead including the gunman. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images) A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) 'Never seen levels like this': Union president on airline passenger misconduct Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East Members of the NYPD wait outside the hospital where an officer is being treated for a gunshot wound from a robbery of a cell phone store Tuesday February 12, 2019. (CNN) — A New York Police Department detective was shot and killed Tuesday, and a sergeant was hit in the leg, after they responded to a reported robbery at a cell phone store in the borough of Queens, city officials said. It was an apparent incident of friendly fire, Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill said. As the two officers went into the store, a suspect came out of a back room with a replica handgun. The detective and sergeant fired, and as they were leaving the store, the detective was apparently shot by uniformed officers. “Once again our hearts are broken in the NYPD,” O’Neill said. Brian Simonsen, 42, and a 19-year veteran of the department, was killed, police said. Twitter/NYPDnews Detective Brian Simonsen was shot and killed while responding to a reported robbery at a cell phone store in Queens, New York. O’Neill and Mayor Bill de Blasio met with Simonsen’s family at a hospital. “It was heartbreaking to see,” de Blasio said. “The shock that they are feeling was so painful to see.” “Make no mistake about it, friendly fire aside, it’s because of the actions of the suspect that Detective Simonsen is dead,” O’Neill added. Our hearts are broken again, because a career criminal put lives in jeopardy. Det. Brian Simonsen, 42, was a 19-year-veteran of the #NYPD. He lost his life fighting crime & keeping safe all the people we serve. The sympathies of all New Yorkers are with his family & colleagues. https://t.co/P0V1VCZPZV — Commissioner Shea (@NYPDShea) February 13, 2019 The suspect, described by O’Neill as a 27-year-old career criminal, was shot multiple times and is listed as stable, O’Neill said. O’Neill said a sergeant, who has been on the force for eight and a half years, was also wounded and is in stable condition. Audio recorded from police radio during the incident suggests a chaotic scene. In a span of seconds, numerous gunshots can be heard as several officers call in and yell “Shots fired!” The injured sergeant eventually radios in, “Be advised, I’m shot,” before relaying his location. Before Tuesday, eight US police officers had been killed by firearms while on duty in 2019, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund website. CNN’s Dave Alsup contributed to this report.<doc-sep>NEW YORK — A New York City police detective who was shot and killed Tuesday night was a graduate of Roger Williams University in Bristol, the college announced Wednesday. Detective Brian Simonsen graduated from the college in 1999 with a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice. The university described Simonsen as a 42-year-old married father of two. "This tragic loss of a fellow RWU alumnus hits close to home,” said Roger Williams Board of Trustees Chairman Tim Baxter, a former vice president of the university alumni association, according to a news release. “Detective Simonsen was a husband and father who dedicated his life to protecting and serving the public. Roger Williams University offers thanks for that service, and we offer his family and his colleagues on the New York City Police Department our heartfelt sympathy." Cops unloaded a fusillade of roughly 50 shots during a Queens cellphone store holdup where a decorated NYPD detective was killed by friendly fire, police sources said Wednesday. At least eight police officers, including Simonsen, were at the T-Mobile phone store where suspect Christopher Ransom was inside — armed with what turned out to be a fake handgun, sources said. The smell of gunpowder filled the February night from the volume of shots fired, according to witnesses at the scene. The officers were responding to a 911 call of a gunman holding store workers hostage. Dozens of evidence markers remained Wednesday in the crime scene area surrounding the Richmond Hill store, with a line of police officers scouring the area for additional evidence. The detective’s unmarked black Ford, pocked with gunshots, remained parked outside the store. A constellation of bullet holes in the glass bore witness to the gunfire. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed all state government buildings to fly their flags at half-staff from Thursday through the detective’s burial. Simonsen spent his entire 19-year NYPD career working in the 102nd Precinct in Queens, where he was viewed as a cut above the average cop by local residents. “This is a man who was doing his job, and he was happy with his job, and his job was to make sure that the street was safe,” said lifelong neighborhood resident Polo Savinon, 26. “You lose somebody like that, you lost more than just an officer,” he continued. “It really is a shame.” During his long career, Simonsen logged 569 arrests – including 446 felony busts. He also earned five Excellent Police Duty Medals and one Meritorious Police Duty Medal. He was working on a local robbery pattern when killed, and could have skipped his shift after attending a union delegates meeting in the morning. Mayor Bill de Blasio recounted speaking with the detective’s wife and mother at New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital after the shooting. “It’s a particularly painful responsibility to speak with family who have just lost their loved one in service to our city,” he recounted. “And you can imagine how devastated they were …. The bravery it takes to go into an unknown situation like that is extraordinary, and he gave his life for us.” Sgt. Matthew Gorman, who was shot in the hip Tuesday evening, remained in the Queens hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Family members at his Seaford, L.I., home declined to speak with reporters, and a local police car was parked outside. Simonsen joined the NYPD in March 2000, and landed at the 102nd Precinct just seven months later. He was assigned to the precinct Detective Squad in November 2006, and promoted to detective in May 2008. The New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund will provide the Simonsen family with $25,000 to cover their immediate expenses — including the slain detective’s funeral. “We are heartbroken for his family, for the NYPD, and for our entire city,” said Lauren Profeta, executive director of the fund. “It is a tremendous loss. We vow to honor Detective Simonsen by helping those he loved the most — his family.” The shooting death of Simonsen is particularly difficult for the teachers who helped prepare him for his career in law enforcement, the dean of Roger Williams' School of Justice Studies, Eric Bronson, said Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, Simonsen's sacrifice is something to be thankful for. "We are fortunate in life to have individuals willing to put themselves in danger, doing stressful, and a lot of times thankless, jobs," Bronson said.<doc-sep>
A New York City police detective was shot and killed Tuesday in what officials said was "friendly fire" while responding to an attempted armed robbery. A second detective who was shot and wounded in the leg was listed as stable. The fatally wounded detective was identified as Brian Simonsen, a 19-year veteran of the police department. Simonsen, who was shot in the chest, was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital, officials said. He was the first New York officer to have been killed in the line of duty since July 2017. The wounded detective wasn't identified. A suspect, described as a 27-year-old career criminal, was shot multiple times and was in custody at a hospital; no condition was disclosed, but he was listed as stable, New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill said. An "imitation firearm" was found at the scene, he said. The detectives were responding to a 911 call about a robbery in progress at a cellphone store in Richmond Hills in Queens at about 6:10 p.m. ET, O'Neill said. Officers responded and fired several rounds, during which Simonsen, 42, was struck, O'Neill said. "This is an absolute tragedy, the worst outcome any police officer or family of a police officer could ever imagine," he said. But "friendly fire aside, it is because of the actions of the suspect that Detective Simonsen is dead." Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference late Tuesday that he had visited with Simonsen's wife. "It's a very difficult, painful night for our city," he said. Investigators at the scene of an attempted robbery at a cellphone store in New York on Tuesday. A New York police detective was killed by what authorities described as 'friendly fire.' Kevin Hagen / AP Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeted about the shooting late Tuesday. "We are forever indebted to the brave NYPD detective who was killed in Queens tonight and the sergeant who was wounded," Schumer said. "May God bless them and their families."