Investigators are reviewing surveillance video after gunfire shattered a bar window in Kingsbridge and critically injured a 30-year-old man.
NEW YORK, NY — An off-duty New York police officer shot a 30-year-old man in the head Monday night near a bar in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, sending the man to a hospital in critical condition and touching off an internal force investigation, according to police and local reports.
The shooting happened near West 231st Street and Albany Crescent, where police said they received a 911 call around 9:15 p.m. Investigators are trying to piece together what led to the gunfire, including reports from several outlets that the off-duty officer believed the men he confronted were connected to a stolen family vehicle. The officer has been removed from regular field duty while the NYPD’s Force Investigation Division reviews the case, and no criminal charge had been publicly announced by Tuesday night.
Early accounts of the episode point to a fast-moving confrontation on a block lined by homes, parked cars and The Bronx Public bar across the street. CBS News New York reported that the off-duty officer had been tracking a vehicle belonging to his family and found it with three men inside on West 231st Street near Albany Crescent. ABC7 reported that the officer believed the people in a white car were responsible for taking his own vehicle. Surveillance video described by multiple stations shows a man outside a darker vehicle with a gun drawn near a light-colored car. A shot then appears to go through the driver’s side window of the lighter car as it pulls away. The same burst of gunfire also struck the front window of the bar.
What remains less clear is the exact sequence in the seconds before the shot that wounded the 30-year-old man. Some reports described at least two shots being fired, while other video accounts focused on a single shot visible on surveillance footage. It also was not immediately clear whether the wounded man was the driver, a passenger or someone outside the vehicle when the bullet hit him. News12 reported that the man was taken in a private car to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. CBS likewise reported that the men in the vehicle drove to a hospital after the shooting. Police had not publicly identified the man as of Tuesday, and the department had not said whether investigators recovered a weapon from anyone besides the officer.
Witnesses and workers inside the bar said the gunfire sent people ducking as glass broke across the front of the business. ABC7 reported that customers first thought an MTA bus passing the scene had blown a tire before realizing a shot had hit the window. The station quoted a manager on duty, who was not named, saying, “Everybody was like ‘oh my god, that’s a shot.'” News12 identified a bar manager only as Ada, who said the scene was “terrible” because anyone inside could have been hit. No injuries were reported at the bar, and no one on the passing bus was reported hurt. By Tuesday, the window had already been replaced, but the damage sharpened the focus on how close the shot came to bystanders.
The officer involved was described by local outlets as a member of the NYPD’s Intelligence Division or Intel Division. CBS reported that the officer was stripped of his badge and gun and moved to desk duty while the investigation continues. ABC7 and NBC New York described that status more broadly as modified duty. In NYPD practice, cases involving a police firearm discharge are handled by the Force Investigation Division, a specialized unit that examines shootings and other serious force incidents. That review typically runs alongside any criminal inquiry about whether the shooting was legally justified, but investigators had not publicly explained by Tuesday what evidence they had collected from the scene, what interviews had been completed or whether prosecutors had been asked to review the case.
The location of the shooting adds another layer of context. The block sits in the 50th Precinct, where the NYPD’s most recent weekly CompStat report showed three shooting incidents and seven shooting victims year to date through March 15, compared with none during the same period a year earlier. Those numbers do not mean this case was typical; police-involved shootings are tracked differently in public debate and carry their own oversight questions. But the figures do show that gun violence in the precinct had already risen before Monday night’s confrontation. Citywide, the NYPD has recently highlighted historically low shooting totals for the opening months of the year, making a high-profile off-duty shooting in a busy Bronx corridor likely to draw extra scrutiny from department leaders and the public.
Records reviewed in public reporting also point to several open questions that may shape the next phase of the case. Investigators are expected to examine surveillance footage from the street, from inside the bar and possibly from nearby businesses or transit cameras. Detectives also will likely try to confirm who owned the vehicles seen in the videos, whether one had been reported stolen, whether any of the people confronted by the officer were armed and whether the officer faced an immediate threat when he fired. One account in the New York Post, citing law enforcement sources, said a man in the confrontation appeared to draw a gun. Other publicly available reports did not independently confirm that detail. Until police or prosecutors release a fuller timeline, the gap between what the videos show and what investigators can prove is likely to remain central.
The legal path ahead may unfold on two tracks. One is the criminal review into whether the shooting violated state law. The other is the NYPD’s internal review of tactics, firearm use and off-duty conduct. It was not clear Tuesday whether the Bronx District Attorney’s Office had opened a formal public case or whether any grand jury presentation was being considered. It also was not clear whether the officer had retained a lawyer or union representative who planned to speak publicly. If the injured man survives, investigators may be able to interview him directly. If his condition worsens, the case could become more serious still. For now, police have not announced an arrest tied to the reported stolen vehicle, and they have not said whether the men who took the wounded person to the hospital remained at large or were questioned.
On the block, the shooting left behind a scene that residents and workers said felt random and close. There was a bar window to replace, shattered glass to sweep up and lingering worry about how a street confrontation escalated near an active sidewalk and a passing bus. The manager interviewed by ABC7 said the officer “should have known better” and questioned why shots were fired after a man had been pinned down. That criticism is likely to echo as investigators sort through the video frame by frame. Cases involving off-duty officers often draw sharp attention because they mix private disputes or personal pursuits with police-issued weapons and training, raising questions not only about what happened, but about how an officer acts when not on an assigned call.
As of Tuesday night, the wounded man remained in critical condition, the officer was off regular duty and the NYPD said its force investigators were still collecting evidence. The next major milestone is likely to be a fuller public accounting from police or prosecutors on what the videos show and whether any charges will follow.
Author note: Last updated March 17, 2026.