Police Officer Is Shot and Killed in the Bronx in Struggle With Man

A New York City police officer was killed early Sunday morning in the Bronx in a burst of gunfire as he tried to wrestle a man to the ground, the police said.

Chief Terence A. Monahan said the officer, Brian Mulkeen, 33, who had been assigned to the Bronx’s anti-crime unit, was restraining the man when the shots were fired.

The officer was struck three times, the police said. He was taken to Jacobi Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The shooting took place about 12:30 a.m. outside the Edenwald Houses in the Bronx, where the officer was patrolling with his partner. The area had seen an increase in gang activity and shootings, Chief Monahan said.

Just after midnight, three police officers attempted to question a man behind the Edenwald complex, the police said. The man fled, and officers in the area pursued him on foot.

Officer Mulkeen and his partner were struggling with the man on the ground when Officer Mulkeen yelled, “He’s reaching for it! He’s reaching for it!” according to body camera footage.

Gunfire followed.

Five officers at the location fired at the man, the police said. The man, whom the police did not immediately name, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A .32-caliber revolver was recovered, the police said.

Officer Mulkeen joined the force in January 2013, Chief Monahan said. He lived in Yorktown Heights with his girlfriend, who is also a police officer in the Bronx.

“Brian was a great cop dedicated to keeping this city safe,” Chief Monahan said. “In fact, just last night he arrested a man in possession of a gun in the very same precinct.”