Man shot by police after opening fire outside bar in Ozone Park, Queens
OZONE PARK, Queens (WABC) -- A person was shot by police after allegedly opening fire at a bar in Queens early Saturday morning.
It happened outside of RRR Bar & Lounge in Ozone Park on Liberty Avenue near 88th Street around 4:00 a.m.
Police received a call about a dispute with weapons, and as the call was coming in, and NYPD anti-crime unit of four plainclothes officers was driving nearby.
Police said it appears that a 38-year-old man allegedly opened fire and hit a 32-year-old man in the foot.
When officers arrived on the scene, the victim was trying to wrestle the gun away from the shooter, who opened fire several times.
Police ordered the 38-year-old man to drop the gun, and when he refused the demands, three officers shot at him. He was struck in the torso and the arm.
'We all ducked. It was scary. Everybody was out there. It happens all the time around here due to that bar (RRR Bar & Lounge) down the block," a witness told Eyewitness News reporter Marcus Solis.
Both men were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect's gun was recovered at the location, along with a knife.
Police said the altercation may have started as a fight inside the bar and was possibly "gang-motivated," police said.
"The individual that was shot in the foot seemed to do a heroic act by getting involved in stopping the individual from shooting other people that were coming outside the establishment," Chief Rodney Harrison, NYPD Chief of Patrol, said in a press conference.
An investigation is ongoing.
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