Greenpoint Shooting: Suspect Had 'Real Anger Issues'

GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN — Police on Tuesday were still investigating a possible motive a day after a retired NYPD officer allegedly shot his landlord's boyfriend in the head in broad daylight in Greenpoint.

Gene Barrett, 51, was taken into custody in connection with the shooting and charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault, burglary and menacing, cops said.

Joe Stepinski, 45, was the victim, according to police sources. Stepinski was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was in critical condition on Monday night, police said.

"We're still trying to identify the motive for the shooting," Deputy Chief Michael Kemper said to reporters Monday night.

The NYPD press office had no updates on the motive on Tuesday morning.

Barrett retired in August 2002, Kemper said. He retired on a disability pension, according to the New York Daily News.

"He is an ex-cop," one neighbor told the Daily News. "He was always moody. He had real anger issues."

The shooting occurred outside 185 Greenpoint Ave., where Barrett lives, the NYPD said.

Barrett is suspected of putting a bullet through Stepinski's head and then holing himself up in an apartment in his building, engaging dozens of officers in an hour-long standoff near Greenpoint Avenue and McGuinness Boulevard. (For the latest on the shooting and other local news, subscribe to the Williamsburg-Greenpoint Patch newsletter and real-time news alerts.)

Cops received the 911 call about the shooting at 2:35 p.m., and upon arrival, they found the victim with a gunshot wound to his head, they said. A witness then told police that the suspect had locked himself up inside the building after shooting the victim, cops said. Officers swarmed the apartment and put up a perimeter around the armed person, the NYPD said.

Lead photo by @JohnnyCirilloJr