Kent Edwards was killed in a confrontation that left an NYPD officer shot yesterday morning in Lower Manhattan.
The shooting happened when police were trying to arrest him as a suspected sex offender wanted for shooting a man earlier this year, he said Daily News.
Police were trying to arrest Edwards for a shooting early Oct. 18 outside Iggy’s Bar on 2nd Ave. near E. 76th St. in the Upper East Side de Manhattan. A victim and his wife were inside the establishment when they argued with him, police said. The argument escalated and spilled onto the street where Edwards allegedly He shot the man in the leg and hit him in the head with the gun.
With a warrant in hand, officers arrived yesterday at an apartment where Edwards, 43, was known for doing “couch surfing” (temporary accommodation) on Eldridge St. near Stanton St. around 11:45 a.m. Thursday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news conference.
Two women inside the apartment told officers with the Manhattan Major Violent Crimes Team that Edwards he was inside a bathroom with a gunaccording to Kenny.
“There was a police car there and the guy was pointing a gun out the window.”Diana Aldahondo, who lives across the street, told reporters.
Officers at the scene called the NYPD Emergency Services Unit. Arriving They spent nearly three hours working to convince Edwards to leave the apartment.
“Body armor, shields, everything,” Aldahondo said of the elite specialized police unit. “They tried to talk him out of it, they really tried, but they did what they had to do.”
Members of the unit attempted to enter the bathroom with a small camera and a drone, but Edwards destroyed both pieces of technology.
“They tried to use a lot of technology, but a lot of the technology wasn’t really helping them the way they needed it,” said NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey.
Finally, The agents sent an avatar (a camera on wheels) and followed it closely into the apartmentthe police said.
Edwards fired four shots. Three of the bullets hit the officers’ shields known as bunkers and the other became trapped in a bulletproof vest. The bullets “could easily have been inside our officers,” Maddrey said.
The officers returned fire and hit Edwards twice, according to the police. Paramedics took him to an area hospital, but were unable to save him.
Edwards, a Bronx resident, had 11 arrests in the city since 1995, the police said. He spent more than 12 years behind bars for attempted rape and criminal sale of a controlled substance.. He was released from prison in 2012, records show.
“The police were looking for him but he was a fugitive,” said his ex-girlfriend, who did not want to be identified. “I was on probation and didn’t want to re-register.”…He was a convicted rapist,” he added. “He hid many things from Me, much of what he did was hidden.”
In February, Edwards was arrested for rape. In 2022, he was arrested for strangulation. He also had an active warrant for failure to register as a sex offender, police said.
2023-12-15 06:43:50
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