NEW YORK — A person of interest linked to the shooting of a rookie NYPD officer in Queens on Wednesday has been taken into custody, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
The individual was arrested in the Bronx on Thursday evening by agents and officers from the U.S. Marshals Task Force and the New York-New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, senior law enforcement sources told our sister channel NBC New York.
The person has yet to be identified and it was unclear if they were the same person shown in footage released by the police department on Wednesday night. It comes after the reward was increased to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of the man who shot 22-year-old officer Brett Boller after a disturbance on an MTA bus.
Police had already arrested one person for questioning in connection with the mid-afternoon shooting near 161st Street and Jamaica Avenue, but police were still looking for the shooter who allegedly shot one of the their.
According to the NYPD, the chaos began Wednesday aboard an MTA bus heading east on Jamaica Avenue around 3:30 p.m. The driver got out to flag down two police officers and reported that a man and another passenger were were vying for a seat. Officers approached the bus just as a man ran out the front door, pushing them away, authorities said.
Boller was able to reach the man and a brief struggle ensued, authorities said. The man then fired a shot, hitting the officer near the right hip. The other officer then fired two shots, but it is not known if the suspect was hit. He took off on 161st Street and west on 88th Avenue to a parking lot. He was last seen near Hillside Avenue.
The weapon used to shoot Boller, who had only been in office for three months, has not been found. The officer was taken to hospital for treatment and is expected to be fine. He is 22 years old.
“He was where our communities tell us they want their officers to be, standing on a step,” New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at a news conference shortly after the shooting. “He was arrested by a member of the community who needed help. He was taking police action and then he was shot.”
Mobile phone video of the scene showed the frantic moments as fellow officers carried the injured officer to safety.
Police have released several surveillance images of the suspect (below).
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-57-PISTA.