Police in East Harlem witness shooting on street, open fire on suspect

EAST HARLEM (WABC) -- Police shot and wounded a gunman who they said was shooting at another man on an East Harlem street Tuesday night.

Two detectives watched the initial shooting unfold, according to the New York City Police Department, and shot the suspect after he pointed his gun at them. The suspect, identified as Wilvinson Diaz, 26, of New York, and the 21-year-old he is accused of shooting are both hospitalized and stable. The officers were not wounded.

Diaz was charged with attempted murder and felony assault, among other charges.

It happened around 8 p.m. at the intersection of First Avenue at East 101st Street.

The plainclothes detectives had just solved a sex assault case in Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan. They arrested the suspect and brought him to Central Booking. The detectives were leaving when they stopped at a light and witnessed the shooting.

The 21-year-old man was shot in the torso and leg, police said. The suspect, still armed, chased the victim on First Avenue, police said, when he encountered the two detectives.

Police said they told the suspect to drop his weapon, but he allegedly pointed the gun at detectives and they shot him in the torso.

"The detectives immediately leapt from their car and intervened in that shooting. One detective fired twice hitting the perpetrator while armed ... He was then tackled to the ground by those detectives and a .22 caliber was recovered from the scene," said Robert Boyce, NYPD's chief of detectives.

"He has given us a statement of complicity in the shooting," Boyce said.

The suspect was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was placed under arrest. The 21-year-old man was taken to Metropolitan Hospital. They are both expected to survive.

Police recovered the suspect's .22 caliber semi-automatic firearm at the scene. Detectives said the two men had a prior conflict.

The detectives involved were not injured, but were treated for tinnitus at Mount Sinai Hospital.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.