NYPD officers work at the scene after eight people, including four children, were shot in a mass shooting near the intersection of West 30th Street and Surf Avenue in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, US on July 4, 2026. [Photo/VCG]
The sound of fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend in many US cities was actually the crack of gunfire.
A police officer in New York was shot in the back of his ballistic vest and injured during an encounter with an 18-year-old who was armed. A second officer was also hurt while arresting the suspect after a foot chase. Police said the two officers were parked in an unmarked vehicle when the armed suspect approached the car, prompting the officers to exit the vehicle and engage with him.
"This has to stop," said Scott Munro, president of the Detective's Endowment Association. "Our members are out there day and night, hours and hours protecting the people of the city of New York, doing a job that they took an oath to take and they need to be respected, and thank God this detective is going home," Munro said at a news conference on Sunday.
The shooting of the officer came after at least eight people were shot in Coney Island, including four children. All were in stable condition, apart from one 21-year-old woman listed as critical. New York police said a masked gunman opened fire on the group, who were having a family barbeque, then fled on foot.
