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A New Jersey teen made a “very clear attempt to drive at a police officer” before cops opened fire on him in the Bronx over the weekend, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.
Hizzoner told reporters that he’d been briefed on the initial internal probe of the Sunday night shooting, which left Luis Manuel-Monsanto, 18, in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head.
“The vehicle was driven directly at the police officer and in the days of where vehicles are used in terrorist attacks,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference in Bayside, Queens.
The Clifton, NJ, teen allegedly fled a traffic stop with three others inside the Jeep — after blowing several red lights in the Bronx, cops said. Police stopped the Jeep at Boston Road and East 165th Street.
In a media briefing Sunday night, Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said the SUV had backed up and then “sped directly” toward cops before they opened fire, striking the teen in the head.
Adams, who said he had reviewed body camera footage from the encounter, clarified the narrative at the Tuesday morning schools press conference.
“This was not a rolling back, this was not a backing up. This was a very clear attempt to drive at a police officer,” Adams said.
“We’re dealing with a different moment in policing,” the mayor added, referencing terrorists who’ve used vehicles in their attacks, similar to the fatal incident in Manhattan in 2017.
“We’ve continued to train our police officers to deal with how now vehicles are used as weapons to harm innocent people as well as police officers,” he said.
“So, when you have individuals running red lights, individuals are taking some intentional action. You have to make that decision. Is this a terrorist attack? Is this an attempt to kill a police officer? And that’s what’s being analyzed right now.”
Adams said the incident, which was captured on police body camera, is being “thoroughly investigated, dissected, every piece of that video.”
Police are prohibited from opening fire on a moving vehicle “unless something other than a vehicle is being used as a weapon,” Corey said Sunday night.
“However, there is a carve-out in there that gets reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the first deputy commissioner’s use of force review board,” he added.
No weapons or drugs were recovered from the Jeep — just a liquor bottle in the back seat, police sources said.
Manuel-Monsanto, who remains hospitalized, has not been charged, sources said.
Additional reporting by Maggie Hicks
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