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Luis Manuel-Monsanto had blown several lights on Boston Road when officers in separate unmarked cars pulled him over at East 165th Street around 8 p.m. Sunday, March 6, Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said.
Three passengers, including the Jeep's owner, were in the vehicle with him, authorities said.
"The officers drove ahead of the vehicle and angled their unmarked police car with the warning lights in front of the Jeep, as a second unmarked police car, also with its lights on, approached from behind," NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said.
With Manuel-Monsanto boxed in the front and back, the officers got out of their cars, Corey said.
At that point the Jeep suddenly "backed up and sped directly towards one officer, who discharged his weapon at the vehicle, striking the driver," the chief said.
“The officers immediately began to render life-saving aid to the driver,” who'd been struck twice in the head, Corey added.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that bodycam footage shows the vehicle "driven directly at the police officer.
"This was not a rolling back. This was not a backing up," the mayor told reporters. "It was a very clear attempt to drive at a police officer."
Manuel-Monsanto, who doesn't have a criminal history, was taken to nearby Lincoln Medical Center in critical condition.
Two officers were hospitalized for observation, authorities said.
The Jeep's 18-year-old owner and another passenger were released by police. The third passenger, a 27-year-old man, reportedly was taken into custody on a six-year-old outstanding warrant.
Corey noted that NYPD policy is "not to shoot at a moving vehicle unless something other than the vehicle is being used as a weapon. 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.”
Police body camera footage was being reviewed, the chief said.
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