Detective shot in Brooklyn barricade is from Long Island, report says

The New York City Police detective shot in the leg Friday morning during a tense hours-long standoff at a Bedford-Stuyvesant brownstone is from Long Island, according to a report.

Detective Matthew Gale, a 15-year NYPD veteran assigned to the Emergency Service Unit, was shot about 8:52 a.m. at 190 Kosciuszko St. in Brooklyn, following a tense standoff with 48-year-old gunman Lamin Simmons, who had barricaded himself for hours inside a townhouse apartment.

Newsday, citing police sources, reported that Gale is from Long Island. The detective is being treated at NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County for a tibial fracture of the left leg and is listed in stable condition.

NYPD records show Gale joined the force in July 2010 and was promoted to detective in 2019, where he holds the rank of detective specialist.

Simmons died at the scene in the exchange of gunfire with police, city officials said.

The incident began just before 6 a.m. when a neighbor called 911 to report hearing approximately seven shots fired inside the two-story brownstone, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Officers from the 79th Precinct arriving to the scene heard additional gunfire. They entered the home and saw a man holding a firearm before withdrawing and calling for specialized resources, Tisch said.

Simmons’ wife and son safely exited the building, telling authorities that Simmons had a history of mental illness. An elderly couple on the second floor could not escape and were instructed by officers to lock their bedroom door.

For more than two hours, hostage negotiators and family members made multiple attempts to reach Simmons by phone, authorities said. About 8:30 a.m., he began throwing large items — including a microwave, a lamp, pots and pans and other kitchen goods — from a rear window, Tisch said.

Drone footage captured him holding a handgun in his left hand as he continued firing rounds from inside the residence.

When ESU officers entered the building, they encountered Simmons at the top of the stairs on the same floor as the elderly couple, Tisch said. He was armed and refused repeated orders to drop the weapon, the police commissioner added.

Simmons fired, striking Gale in the leg. At least four officers returned fire, striking Simmons, police said.

Over the course of the incident, Simmons fired approximately 20 rounds, Tisch noted. Two firearms were recovered: a Beretta handgun equipped with an extended magazine and a Jimenez Arms .380 caliber handgun.

Tisch explained that there is no documented emotionally disturbed person history on file with the NYPD for Simmons.

She said investigators believe the incident began as a dispute involving the elderly couple on the second floor.

“What happened this morning is a reminder that the men and women of the NYPD routinely place themselves between danger and the people that they serve,” Tisch said. “Detective Gale put his life on the line doing exactly that.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who visited with Gale’s wife at the hospital, credited all involved for handling “an immensely challenging situation with professionalism and with calmness.”

“When New Yorkers call 911, they expect someone to show up,” Mamdani said. “What this officer and so many others today did was exactly that.”

The incident was captured on police body-worn cameras and via multiple drones, police said.

_{Top: New York Mayor Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch address the media on Friday (NYPD/YouTube video still).}