Police have now named the man who fought with an NYPD officer over the cop’s gun during an arrest, leading to both of their deaths early Sunday.
Antonio Lavance Williams, 27, was identified as the man who fought with six-year NYPD veteran Brian Mulkeen, 33, near the Edenwald Houses in the Bronx Sunday at about 12.30am, according to CBS 2.
Mulkeen was patrolling the streets around the city apartment complex as part of the Bronx Borough Anti-Crime Unit, investigating potential gang activity, when the fatal incident occurred.
Police have identified Antonio Lavance Williams, 27 (left), as being the man that NYPD officer Brian Mulkeen, 33 (right), fought with early Sunday. Both men died during the incident
Williams, who was said to be a gang member, was on probation until 2022 for a narcotics arrest from last year at the time of the fatal shooting.
The suspect also has several prior arrests in ‘various places,’ including a burglary conviction in Rockland County, police said.
Sources told the New York Post that Williams had a total of three previous arrests, two of which were felonies and one was a misdemeanor.
During the incident, Mulkeen was shot three times, possibly with his own gun, as he grappled on the ground with the man who has now been identified as Williams.
‘We lost a hero this evening,’ Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference outside Jacobi Medical Center Sunday.
Williams was said to have been on probation until 2022 for a narcotics arrest from last year at the time of the fatal shooting
NYPD investigators are seen above in the Bronx where Mulkeen and his partner were attempting to apprehend an unnamed suspect about 12.30am on Sunday near the Edenwald Houses on East 229th Street
Police released the photo (above) of a .32-caliber revolver that was recovered from the ground where the deadly melee had taken place
Mulkeen and his partner tried to apprehend Williams after he fled questioning near the Edenwald Houses.
Williams was confronted by three other officers who emerged from a patrol car to question him and a ‘violent struggle’ on the ground ensued, police said.
The suspect’s name has not been officially released.
Monahan said Mulkeen can be heard on bodycam footage yelling, ‘He’s reaching for it – he’s reaching for it’, in reference to the gun.
Mulkeen was then shot in the head, chest and legs.
Meanwhile, five officers, also at the scene, unloaded their weapons and killed Williams.
Williams was said to have been armed with a .32 caliber revolver, but police said that it did not appear that his gun had been fired.
Mulkeen’s gun, however, had been fired five times, although it was unclear whether Mulkeen or Williams had been the one pulling the trigger.
Mulkeen died after he was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, an area trauma center.
Police have not released the bodycam footage.
Mulkeen was struck three times by gun fire, possibly with his own weapon, as he grappled on the ground with the suspect who was also armed. Cops (above) search the scene of the shooting for more answers as to what happened
Mulkeen can be heard on video footage taken by his body camera yelling, ‘He’s reaching for it – he’s reaching for it,’ just before bullets were fired. Cops (above) search the area outside the Edenwald Houses where the deadly melee took place
When asked to confirm whether Mulkeen’s service weapon was turned against him, an NYPD spokesman said authorities were still investigating.
The gun used to shoot Mulkeen must still must be sent to a lab to confirm its origin, the NYPD spokesman told DailyMail.com.
A ‘brave’ Mulkeen was ‘doing the job we asked him to do – the job that New Yorkers needed him to do,’ when he ‘was shot and killed,’ said Monahan, in a statement taken while he spoke at the hospital alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio.
‘Tragedies like this are not only an affront to the men and women in blue, but to all the people our cops proudly serve,’ the chief said at the hospital.
Mulkeen, who lived with his girlfriend in Yorktown Heights, was appointed to duty on January 9, 2013, and served out the 47th Precinct in the Bronx. His girlriend is an officer out of the 44th Precinct, also in the Bronx.
Investigators at the scene after Mulkeen was killed outside a Bronx public housing project are pictured above. Mulkeen is the second NYPD officer killed in the line of duty this year
Investigators (above) worked into the morning hours to determine how events unfolded in the deadly melee that left Mulkeen fatally shot
‘It’s very painful in every way,’ said de Blasio, referring to the heroic officer’s sacrifice. and calling for support for the cop’s family.
‘We have to be there for him. He was there for us,’ the mayor added.
Mulkeen is the second NYPD officer killed in the line of duty this year. Detective Brian Simonsen was accidentally shot by fellow officers in February while confronting a robbery suspect.
Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan (pictured above) said a ‘brave’ Mulkeen was ‘doing the job we asked him to do – the job that New Yorkers needed him to do,’ when he ‘was shot and killed’
‘It’s very painful in every way,’ said Mayor Bill de Blasio (above), referring to the Mulkeen’s sacrifice. and calling for support for the cop’s family. ‘We have to be there for him. He was there for us,’ the mayor added
‘We’ve been here too often. We know the directions to get here,’ Pat Lynch, the president of New York City’s Police Benevolent Association, said at the press conference. ‘It has to stop.’
‘Brian was a great cop dedicated to keeping this city safe. In fact, just last night he arrested a man in possession of a gun in the very same precinct,’ Monahan said.
The fatal shooting, according to the chief, was ‘a vivid example of the dangers New York City cops face every day. And, there’s never a doubt that our officers will continue to put it all on the line to keep people safe.’
‘Tragedies like this are not only an affront to the men and women in blue, but to all the people our cops proudly serve, Monahan added.
The chief thanked people who had already reached out to the department to express their condolences. ‘We ask everyone to please keep Officer Mulkeen’s loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.’