A suspected gunman who shot and critically wounded a plainclothes police officer Saturday evening in Queens was charged on Sunday with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and assault, according to NYPD officials. The officer remained in critical but stable condition at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/2MqHuLC9qN/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Officer shot pic in Queens Village. Early view from our photographer Luis Braga #nbc4ny #NYPD</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Brian Thompson (@brian4ny) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-02T23:21:15+00:00">May 2, 2015 at 4:21pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>'
The anti-crime officer, 25-year-old Brian Moore, had pulled up next to a "person of interest" and had begun to get out of the unmarked car when the suspect pulled a gun and shot the officer in the head, according to a high-ranking source who was briefed on the situation.
The suspect, 35-year-old Demitrius Blackwell of Queens, was apprehended after an intensive search, sources told NBC New York.
The shooting, which occurred near the intersection of 212th Street and 104th Road in the Queens Village neighborhood, was not an ambush situation, the source said. The gunman fled on foot. Police Commissioner William Bratton during a news conference said that the man was "adjusting an object in his waistband" before turning and firing several times into the unmarked car.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio rushed to the hospital where the officer was taken, the mayor's press office said.
The shooting comes less than six months after two New York Police Department officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were shot and killed "execution style" by a gunman in the wake of grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
NBC New York's Jonathan Dienst contributed to this report.