Suspect charged with attempted murder after shooting rookie NYPD cop, claims gun went off accidentally
By: A suspect accused of shooting a rookie NYPD cop in Queens was ordered held without bail Friday — after prosecutors said he tried to claim the gun went off by accident.
Devin Spraggins, 22, was slapped with a slew of charges in Queens Criminal Court — including attempted murder of a police officer — in the wake of Wednesday’s violent shooting in Jamaica that erupted over an MTA bus seat.
“This was a clear attempt of an assassination. This defendant wanted to take the life of one of New York City’s Finest,” assistant district attorney Kanella Georgopoulos told the court.
The ordeal unfolded after Spraggins got into a fight with a passenger on a city bus and allegedly whipped out his firearm just before 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday — prompting the driver to hail down two nearby cops, according to a criminal complaint.
Spraggins, who was nabbed by police late Thursday and flipped the bird as he was hauled into the precinct Friday, allegedly admitted to fleeing when the officers Brett Boller and Anthony Rock tried to question him in the bus doorway, the complaint says.
The suspect, who prosecutors say has a prior rape offense from when he was a juvenile, claims he ran because he knew he “had his gun in his waistband.”
Harrowing surveillance video obtained by The Post showed the officers chasing after him along 161st Street before Spraggins allegedly pulled his gun from his waistband and shot Boller, striking him in the leg.
Despite agreeing in police interviews that he is the man captured in the surveillance videos opening fire, Spraggins allegedly insisted that the “gun in his waistband just went off” when Boller caught up to him, according to the complaint.
After shooting Boller, he “attempted to take the life” of the other responding officer by “positioning himself in a shooter’s stance…and pointed his firearm” at the cop.
Spraggins was captured on surveillance video ditching his jacket, mask and sweatshirt in a nearby parking lot — and then jumping into a Lyft he’d ordered, the complaint said.
Once home, he allegedly cut his hair to alter his appearance, prosecutors said.
Judge Jeffrey Gershuny slammed Spraggins’ alleged actions as “cowardly” as he denied his request for bail during his brief arraignment.
At least 50 cops piled into the courtroom to watch as Spraggins was hauled before the judge.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch ripped the suspect for claiming the gun fired accidentally, saying it’s “complete nonsense.”
“He’s living in an upside down world, where he doesn’t realize that there are videos on every corner, there are videos in every shop, there are videos on every police officers’ chest,” Lynch said.
He added: “Why is it that this coward would think he’s strong enough to run from the police, carry a gun, and use that gun? Unfortunately, we know that answer. There is no consequence to causing chaos.
“If he’ll shoot at a New York City police officer, he’ll kill any one of us.”
Spraggins will face court against on April 10.
Meanwhile, Boller, from Hauppauge, Long Island, is recovering from his gunshot injuries at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center after undergoing surgery. He was only three months into the job and is the son of an NYPD inspector in the Brooklyn North precinct.