Charlie Vasquez, 23, from Brooklyn, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault, criminal use of a firearm after allegedly opening fire and wounding two NYPD officers
A 'career criminal' with more than half-dozen of prior arrests has been charged after he allegedly opened fire and wounded two NYPD officers on Thanksgiving eve.
Charlie Vasquez, 23, from Brooklyn, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment, and menacing, police said.
Vasquez was arrested in The Bronx, near the 48th Precinct, on Wednesday, after he reportedly opened fire on NYPD officers Alejandra Jacobs and Robert Holmes - an incident caught in surveillance video.
Jacobs, a military veteran, was shot twice in the right arm, while Holmes, who has been in the department for eight years, was shot in his right armpit area.
Holmes and Jacobs were treated at St. Barnabas Hospital, where they were cheered and escorted to an NYPD vehicle taking them home by fellow officers after their discharges on Friday and Saturday, respectively. They are both expected to make a full recovery.
'This is a Thanksgiving 'tradition' we never want to repeat,' the Police Benevolent Association (NYC PBA) tweeted after both officers were discharged.
'There is no fear on the streets right now,' New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said during a press conference on Friday. 'We can take guns off the streets and fill up truck loads. Until we start putting some of these individuals in jail, we are going to have a tragedy.'
Police said Vasquez had eight prior arrests, at least one for criminal possession of a weapon for allegedly pulling a shotgun on a 32-year-old male during a fight in 2017.
Surveillance video of the incident shows a man believed to be Vasquez sitting on the front steps of a house in The Bronx, as Holmes opens a gate to approach him with Jacobs following behind
In the video, Jacob appears to aim at the suspect's left pocket, while Vasquez pulls away. The situation then rapidly escalates with Jacob and Vasquez wrestling and Holmes can be seen firing at the suspect, who had reportedly started fire seconds before
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said that the gun Vasquez allegedly carried had made its way to New York from Georgia, where it had been reported stolen
Jacobs and Holmes were responding to a 911 call reporting an individual with a gun who matched Vasquez's description, when they arrived at a Bronx property where Vasquez was sitting outside.
Footage of the incident shows a man believed to be Vasquez sitting on the front steps of a house in The Bronx, as Holmes opens a gate to approach him with Jacobs following behind.
Officers gave verbal instructions to Vasquez to take his hands out of his pockets but he opened fire instead, police said in a briefing with Mayor De Blasio, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea and NYC PBA president Pat Lynch addressed the media on the incident on Friday.
In the video, Jacob appears to aim at the suspect's left pocket, while Vasquez pulls away. The situation then rapidly escalates with Jacob and
