Suspect Arrested in Shooting of Award-Winning NYPD Officer

What to Know

• A 33-year-old Brooklyn man was arrested and charged with attempted murder of a peace officer[hhmc]

• Police say Kelvin Stichel fired multiple rounds at police who tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant[hhmc]

• One officer was struck in the leg but is expected to survive [hhmc]

A suspect accused of shooting a police officer in Brooklyn was arrested Saturday, the NYPD said.

Kelvin Stichel, 33, of Brooklyn, was charged with four counts of attempted aggravated murder of a peace officer and four counts of attempted murder, police said. He also faces a charge of robbery from an outstanding warrant.

The officer, Miguel Soto, and other members of the warrant squad were driving around Bed-Stuy at 6:30 a.m. when they spotted Stichel coming out of a house, sources told NBC 4 New York. Stichel saw the cops and started running — they made a U-turn, eventually got out and started chasing him on foot, authorities said.

The officers identified themselves and asked Stichel to show his hands. He then started shooting at them on Decatur Street, NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said.

Tense Moments Before and After Cop Shooting in BK

Police returned fire and hit him one time in the arm. Soto, who earned a medal for valor in a 2013 playground shooting, was hit once in the upper right thigh; O'Neill said the bullet appeared to have passed straight through his leg and that he was conscious and alert while speaking with doctors at the hospital. Soto was released from the hospital early Thursday afternoon — seven hours after taking the bullet. No other cops were shot.

Stichel ran off after the gunfire and was later apprehended in a hallway. O'Neill said the gun was recovered nearby. He estimated the suspect had fired about six shots and that his officers fired "multiple rounds."

Stichel was most recently released from jail in May 2014 after serving time for criminal possession of a controlled substance. Before that, he served time for attempted robbery.

He is currently being treated at Kings County Hospital and has yet to be arraigned, pending his discharge from the hospital, the DA's office said.

Sources say both the suspect and the suspect's girlfriend were known to authorities. He had a warrant out for his arrest in connection with an alleged domestic violence robbery; his girlfriend was herself wanted by police for robbery, sources say. Cops came to arrest her several weeks ago, and she pepper-sprayed the officers, sources say. Then she and the boyfriend ran off.

It wasn't immediately clear if a warrant was still out for the girlfriend, whose name has not been released. Authorities say they are not looking for any additional suspects in the shooting.

Inside the NYPD Force Investigations Unit

It wasn't clear whether Stichel had an attorney.

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