Sources: Several questioned in cop shooting

(Prospect Lefferts Gardens-WABC, July 9, 2007) (WABC) -- Sources tell Eyewitness News that several people late Monday night were being question in the shooting of two NYPD officers in Brooklyn. They were both shot during a traffic stop early Monday morning. One of the officers was saved by his bulletproof vest. The other is fighting for his life.

We have complete coverage of the shooting.

Two New York City police officers were shot and wounded during a Brooklyn traffic stop on Monday, including one who was gravely injured, authorities said.

"The suspects in this brazen shooting are still at large," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a news conference at Kings County Hospital, where the officers were taken.

A security video near the scene captured the shooting. Another video showed three men, believed to be the suspects, ducking into a driveway when they saw a patrol car approach after the shooting.

"One will recover and one is clinging to life. I ask all New Yorkers to pray for their recovery," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of the officers.

Officer Russell Timoshenko, 23, was shot in the face and neck, and was in "extremely critical condition," said Kelly.

Bloomberg said that while meeting with Timoshenko's parents, he gave them "thanks from a concerned city."

Officer Herman Yan, 26, shot in the chest and left forearm, was in stable condition. "We have every reason to believe that his life was saved by his bulletproof vest," Kelly said.

At the crime scene Monday morning, the officers' patrol car - lights still flashing - remained in the spot where they stopped the suspects, outside the Little Red Riding Hood daycare center. Numbered evidence markers covered the street and sidewalk near the car; one marked Yan's weapon.

The incident occurred at 2:30 a.m. in the Crown Heights section when the two officers pulled over a black BMW SUV that had license plates belonging to another car.

Kelly said the uniformed officers approached the SUV and someone inside it started shooting, hitting Timoshenko first. Yan returned fire but was hit too, Kelly said.

Detectives who were canvassing the area while investigating an unrelated double homicide heard the shots and stopped to help the officers. Other police cars arrived moments later and rushed the victims to the hospital.

Police found the SUV abandoned a few blocks from the shooting scene. Inside it were two .45-caliber shell casings. One .45-caliber and two 9mm handguns were later discovered in the same area, police said.

The SUV, and the plates from the second vehicle, had been stolen from a Long Island dealership.

Police said Timoshenko, of Staten Island, joined the department in January 2006. Yan, of Brooklyn, joined three years ago.

"The terrible events are proof once again of the unfortunate truth that guns, when they fall into the hands of the wrong people, have tragic consequences," said Bloomberg.

Information on the Shot Officers:

Officer Herman Yan
26-years-old
3 Years with NYPD
Lives in Brooklyn
Has carried out 36 arrests
Injuries: He was shot in the chest and forearm, his life was believed to be saved by his vest.

Officer Russell Timoshenko
23-years-old
Joined NYPD last January
Lives in Staten Island
Has carried out 15 arrests, three of them felonies
Injuries: He was shot in the face and neck, and remains in grave condition as doctors try and remove two bullets in the back of his head.

"It's a horrible thing, people don't realize what these cops have to go through," a neighbor of Officer Timoshenko said. "And they're worried about a pay scale. Everybody should take a good look at what these guys have to go through, and if it was their own kids, you know, it just hits home."

Eyewitness News is told that even though both of the officers worked at the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn, the outpouring of support for them has been enormous.

COP SHOT has placed a $10,000 cash bounty for suspects:

COP SHOT is placing $10,000 cash bounty on the heads of the assailants who allegedly shot two Brooklyn police officers this morning.

Anyone with information on the shootings should immediately call the organization's toll-free hotline at 1-800-COP-SHOT, which is manned around the clock by NYPD detectives. Callers do not have to give their names.

The COP SHOT bus, equipped with a public address system, will be at the scene of the shootings starting at 11 a.m. today, and throughout the day, with notification of the $10,000 cash bounty blaring over loud speakers.

Callers are provided with an identification number. A caller qualifies for the cash reward if their information leads to an arrest and conviction of the assailants.

COP SHOT, the acronym for "Citizens Outraged at Police Being Shot," is a group of metropolitan area business owners that posts an automatic standing $10,000 cash reward whenever a New York City police officer is shot or shot at.

"Money on the street talks, and there is usually someone willing to provide information in exchange for $10,000 in cash," COP SHOT Director of Operations John Provetto said. "Anyone with information on these shootings should call 1-800-COP-SHOT so we can bring in these suspects."

Stay with Eyewitness News and 7online.com for more on this developing story, we will continue to give you details throughout the day.

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