Park Slope Shooting: Off-Duty NYPD Officer May Have Fired Bullet, Cops Say (Updated)

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Police are investigating whether a man who walked into Park Slope's Methodist Hospital with a gunshot wound early Tuesday was shot by an off-duty officer with the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

According to an NYPD spokesman, the 32-year-old man showed up at the hospital around 1 a.m. with a gunshot wound in his right leg.

The man remained in stable condition Tuesday morning, police said.

An initial investigation by the NYPD showed that an off-duty, 27-year-old officer with the department "was present at the location" where the 32-year-old man was shot, near Flatbush and Sixth avenues on the border of Park Slope and Prospect Heights, an NYPD spokesman told Patch.

Another police spokesman said the wounded man may have been trying to mug the off-duty officer.

The shooting took place outside Bleachers Sports Bar and Grill at 240 Flatbush Ave, a known hangout for local cops. No gun was recovered from the scene, police said.

Citing police sources, DNAinfo reported Tuesday afternoon that the man who was shot had tried to mug the off-duty NYPD sergeant's cousin as the two left the bar.

Via DNAinfo: "The sergeant pulled out his gun and the suspect started grappling with him, sources said. In the struggle, the sergeant's weapon fired, hitting the suspect in the right leg, sources said."

Witnesses told the local news site they heard four shots — one of which pierced a window on Prospect Place.

"It was frightening," Mike Edelman, a 69-year-old resident who lives nearby, said in an interview with DNAinfo. "I was frightened and furious. It's normally a beautiful, quiet neighborhood."

Photos by John Santore/Patch