Police fatally shoot man in Massapequa, officers injured after chase, commissioner says

Police shot and killed a man in Massapequa after he fled a traffic stop in Queens on Friday night and was later pursued by Nassau County police officers, according to the Nassau police department.

Nassau police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the man had driven away from the stop, which was conducted by NYPD officers. During a chase in Nassau, the man's vehicle struck or almost struck civilian and police cars, as well as several people. The episode left eight hospitalized, including five Nassau officers, two NYPD officers and one civilian. All those hospitalized had minor injuries, according to Nassau police spokesman Det. Lt. Scott Skrynecki.

Just after 11 p.m., the driver had sped away from NYPD cops "at a high rate of speed," the NYPD press office wrote in an email. "A supervisor terminated the attempt to apprehend the driver," the email said.

Speaking at a news conference Saturday morning, Ryder described the driver as "reckless." The car "jumped onto oncoming traffic on Sunrise Highway. He's ramming police cars. He's ramming civilian cars, and he lost control of his own vehicle."

The case has been referred to the state attorney general's office, which investigates deaths caused by police officers.

The initial stop, chase and shooting all occurred within about a half hour, according to Nassau police.

Ryder did not say exactly how officers came to shoot the man except that "officers attempted to get that individual out of the car, a shooting occurred and the individual has died."

The man's name wasn’t disclosed, pending notification of his family, Ryder said, nor were the number or names of the officer or officers who opened fire. Skrynecki said the number of officers involved in the shooting is under investigation. The basis for the initial stop in Queens also wasn’t disclosed, though both departments said it was within the jurisdiction of the 113th Precinct, which includes parts of southeastern Queens, near the border with Nassau.

Last year, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey issued a memo warning officers to rethink engaging in high-speed pursuits, after several episodes in which civilians were injured during police chases, according to a published report. In the past, the NYPD and the Nassau police have joined pursuits in each other's jurisdictions. 

Skrynecki, the Nassau police spokesman, said in an email: "The pursuit was terminated by the NYPD and the NYPD subsequently informed us where the vehicle was located inside Nassau County. We responded to that location and located the vehicle which almost struck two police officers as it fled from our attempts to stop it."

Skrynecki, who said that under Nassau's policy, department personnel considering a pursuit must weigh the risks and benefits, said that Friday's pursuit was in-line with that policy. In a text, he wrote that when Nassau police were initially notified about the vehicle, they "were informed by the NYPD that the vehicle was wanted for reckless endangerment and almost struck officers in Queens."

Ryder said the state attorney general’s office — which under state law investigates deaths involving police officers — had been notified. Alexis Richards, a spokesperson for Attorney General Letitia James, declined to provide information about the extent of the office's involvement in the case.

Ryder said the episode had been captured on police officers' body-worn cameras; the footage was not made public on Saturday.

“The individual decided he was not going to stop. He ran,” Ryder said, adding that the man tried to strike two officers who “dove out of the way.”

“He took two police cars, rammed them, knocked the doors off, knocked two officers to the ground that they jumped out of the way,” Ryder said.

The police did not provide a make and model of the vehicle involved in the chase, but a photo of the crashed vehicle shows an SUV.