A 22-year-old man was charged Friday with trying to murder two police sergeants who attempted to take him into custody after getting a report about someone robbing people on the Lower East Side the night before, authorities say.
In addition, he is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the chaos that unfolded on Delancey Street Thursday afternoon.
As of early Friday, one NYPD sergeant had been released from the hospital and a second was expected to go home.
The sergeants were responding to a reported gunpoint robbery on Canal Street and were chasing the suspect up Delancey Street. They caught up to him and were trying to take him into custody when the gun went off. It fired one shot; the bullet hit both officers.
“Today is yet another reminder of the dangers New York City police officers face every day as they go out there to keep our city safe,” Police Commissioner Edward Caban said Thursday at a news conference at Bellevue Hospital, where the sergeants were treated.
Police recovered a Taurus semi-automatic pistol at the scene.
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Online court records didn't list a lawyer for Dorsett. A message seeking comment was left with a lawyer representing a man with Dorsett's name in another case. Kenny said that hours before the shooting, Dorsett made a required monthly visit with his probation officer.
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The shooting snarled Canal Street just before rush hour. Police blocked off the busy boulevard — lined with shops, restaurants and street vendors — with vehicles and yellow crime scene tape as investigators looked for signs of the shooting and scoured nearby delis for surveillance footage.
