NYPD: Retired officer shoots man during dispute in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
GREENPOINT, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Police said a retired NYPD officer shot a man during a dispute, leading to a barricade situation that prompted a large police response in Brooklyn Monday.
The shooting happened on Greenpoint Avenue near the intersection of McGuinness Boulevard in the Greenpoint section. Witnesses told police the shooting occurred outside on the sidewalk.
On Monday night, as police gathered evidence and documented the bloody scene. The suspect was identified as 51-year-old Gene Barrett.
Barrett retreated to the victim's girlfriend's apartment after the shooting, holing up there for nearly an hour.
Police took cover behind their patrol cars as Tactical Emergency Services officers swooped in.
"The officers set up a perimeter - they called for ESU, a dialogue started with the suspect, and he came out voluntarily," says NYPD Deputy Chief Michael Kemper.
Eyewitness News viewers captured photos of the massive police presence in the neighborhood:
Barrett left the NYPD on disability in the summer of 2002. Police found two firearms on him, and were questioning him at the 94th Precinct stationhouse all night. Barrett was later charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault, burglary and menacing.
None of this is a surprise to the suspect's old friend, who says Barrett's problems with his neighbors seemed to be getting worse and worse.
"He would say they would stalk him and spy on him and walk in his apartment and stuff. Somebody recently stabbed his tires," Andino said.
The name of the victim has not yet been released. He remains in grave condition at Bellevue Hospital.
