Nassau County and MTA police officials Sunday were still investigating why a Nassau plainclothes police officer was accidentally shot and killed while responding to a crime scene in Massapequa Park.
Minutes after a knife-wielding Massapequa Park man was shot dead in his own home Saturday night in a confrontation with officers from the Seventh Precinct, an MTA officer on scene opened fire on a Nassau cop.
Geoffrey J. Breitkopf, 40, a member of the elite Bureau of Special Operations, was shot once by an MTA officer as he approached the house at 5 Fourth Ave. Breitkopf and his partner arrived in an unmarked unit about 8-to-13 minutes after the initial shooting, Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said.
Mulvey added that Breitkopf was carrying a rifle.
“This has been described as friendly fire,” Mulvey said at a Sunday press briefing at police headquarters in Mineola. “Let me debunk that. There’s no such thing as friendly fire. Any time shots are fired, it is not in a friendly situation. It is an inherent danger of police work.”
The gunshot struck Breitkopf on the right side of the chest and exited to the left through his arm. It’s not clear whether he was wearing a protective vest. Breitkopf was transported to Nassau University Medical Center, where he died at 9:19 p.m.
The last accidental shooting death of a Nassau police officer happened on Nov. 14, 1976, when George Kempen, 38, was killed during a stolen car chase. This marks the second death in the line of duty this year for Nassau police. Prior, no county cops had been killed in the line of duty since 1993.
A 12-year veteran of the force and member of OPS since October 2003, Breitkopf has received five command recognitions, four meritorious police service awards and a medal of commendation. He also served as a volunteer firefighter in Selden, where he resided with his wife, Paula, and two young boys, aged 6 and 3.
“He was dedicated to those boys,” said fellow OPS officer Steven Paul, who was in the same graduating class with Breitkopf at the academy. “I just saw a Facebook picture today with his kids by a fire truck. That’s what he lived for. That’s all any father lives for.”
Anthony DiGeronimo, 21, was also killed Saturday after he charged at Seventh Precinct officers with two large knives in hand.
Police responded to a report of a man with several knives menacing the neighborhood between Fourth Ave. and Front Street. DiGeronimo jumped on the hood of a car on Front Street driven by a woman in her 70s, Nassau police Lt. Kevin Smith said. He brandished one of his knives and struck the car with it in a stabbing motion.
“He tried to stab the car,” Smith said.
When police arrived, DiGeronimo fled. He ran into his house and locked himself in a back room. Officers gave chase and evacuated his parents from the home. Moments later, DiGeronimo opened the door and lunged at the officers. That’s when they opened fire, striking DiGeronimo seven times.
“He barged out of the room in a wild manner with the knife above his head,” Mulvey said. “Masked leather; Satanic garb; knives all over his body. He had knives in both hands.”
MTA officers happened to be in the area responding to a stuck elevator at the nearby Long Island Rail Road station, Mulvey said. They heard the police transmissions and went to the crime scene. Breitkopf and his partner responded in similar fashion.
Their paths intersected in a chaotic moment that ended tragically, leaving officials to figure out if changes in procedure need to be made.
“It’s unfortunate,” Mulvey said. “These kinds of circumstances, when they occur, cause us to take a step back and review what we are doing – review our protocols. That is happening. We were discussing that last night at the hospital.”
The MTA officer is on sick leave "dealing with the trauma" and will likely not face any charges, Mulvey said.
“We’re going to miss him very deeply,” Paul said of the slain officer. “We’re not going to fill that hole.”
The MTA released a statement late Sunday: "The entire MTA family wishes to share its condolences with the Nassau County Police Department and the family of a Nassau County officer tragically killed in an accidental shooting last night. The MTA Police Department is cooperating with Nassau County PD and DA's offices in the ongoing investigation."
Cleared of both. I followed procedure, I IDENTIFIED MYSELF! PANIC KILLS! Clearly, as my experiences present to me, fire discipline is lacking in the metro NYC area! I knew a Transit Cop, back in the 70's without ballistic protection took two rounds,,this knowing, that as a well trained MARINE he would have with most doubt would have popped a cap in the perp..civilians abound said area,,what did he do,,took acouple slugs,,,,,why because he, was not 100% certain that he could terminate the situation without possibly injuring or having a bystander being killed. That is a professional! This horrible outcome will no doubt be washed over the widow will get much monies an a Cop that has not any confidence nor proper training nor fire discipline will go on working. When one who holsters a pistol they must adhere to the highest standards! Not just making the LOW STANDARD GRADES, but the highest! The MTA Cop Obviously had the "drop" did he ID himself? doubt it! Should he be charged with Criminally Negligent Homicide? Absolutley YES!
They are the product of police buffs like Doug Schlaefer, whose posts here on patch indicate an obsession with fear of terrorists among us and an Aspergers Syndrome for police buffing. "...At any price is okay with me," he believes. Bazooka Joe makes an excellent point. Had they not responded, they would have been viewed as "lazy loads..." But Joe Boltz hits the nail on the head: "Fire Discipline," as you so rightly state, was lacking, as well as some level of Incident Command. This is a tragedy. Lets not miss the opportunity to trim a bloated, ill trained department that exists only to duplicate the services of local departments and offer political patronage. There must be some accountability for these fatal errors.
That crack about Asperger's Syndrome was totally unnecessary. If the man you're taunting is truly an Aspie, you've just been absolutely cruel to somebody who can't help the way he is and if he's not, you've slandered an entire group of people with a legitimate issue. That said, I have been thinking about how the shooting of Officer Breitkopf could have happened. When I saw the photos of him with the long beard and the shaved head and muscular build, the thought occurred to me that if he showed up looking that way, in plainclothes and carrying a rifle, the MTA cops (who didn't know him, apparently the NC cops did) might have thought he was a skinhead buddy of DeGeronimo coming by to help out his friend. I don't know how he was dressed that night or if he had that beard, but to me, it looked like he was maybe doing undercover in a biker gang or a skinhead group. Regardless, there were multiple tragedies that night. As the parent of an Aspie the age of Anthony DeGeronimo, my heart breaks for his parents; however, if he was truly charging down a narrow hallway with knives raised - the cop who shot him acted in a justifiable way. Who knew at the time whether or not he had a hostage in that room or someone who was wounded. He could have had a sibling in there or a friend or someone he'd snatched off the street and been holding in there.
"The ex-cop who yelled "gun" before a Long Island police officer was killed in a "friendly fire" shooting is a retired NYPD veteran who has an annoying habit of listening to scanners and racing to locations where police are called, sources said yesterday. John Cafarella, 58 -- a former Emergency Service Unit sergeant out of East New York -- has spent his three-year retirement nosing around crime scenes and offering unwanted help, the sources said. Nassau County detectives are investigating Cafarella's role in the tragedy that resulted in the death of Geoffrey Breitkopf, a plainclothes cop, who was shot and killed by an MTA cop as he approached a crime scene with a rifle hanging from his shoulder. " So the theory is that if this guy had not yelled "gun" the MTA officer would not have shot at officer Breitkopf.
One of the articles I read indicated that the original responding cops might not have even known that those were his parents. Depending on the layout of the house and/or when the parents were home, they might not have known if Anthony had someone in his room. I do agree that Anthony's death was a tragedy but my personal read, so far, is that the police might have been justified IF he was truly charging down the hallway with ANY of those knives I saw in the paper. I can't understand why something like that set of brass knuckles with bayonets sticking out of it is allowed to be sold!
For an alledged former cop he sure has a beef with multiple police agencies or is it simply a case of police envy? Is Clem a cop, coward or classless, I say no, yes and yes as evidenced by his above comments and insensitivty to people with handicaps and while I appeciate Jane's comments I will not be taunted by this or any bully. It is time for Clem to come out from the rock he is hiding under, reveal himself and debate me in public, anywhere local, then I can demonstrate to him how this "buff" as he describes me is going to "polish" him off in a debate on all matters municipal, it is time to prove your not a coward Clem. I can be contacted at 944 9810 to set up the debate or in the alternative as someone you could well identify with Archie Bunker once said-stifle youself.
Officer Breitkopf wasn't wearing a traditional police uniform because it was his job to wear plainclothes. He apparently worked undercover and it's kind of hard to get bad guys to trust you if you're wearing the blue. His colleagues on NCPD, from what I've seen and heard, recognized him; it was the cops and retired cops at the scene who didn't.
So much for your credibility.
"plainclothes" an officer who work in civilian attire like a detective of school officer. Plainclothes guys sometime known as anti crime or street crime drive around in an un marked vehicle and wear street clothes so they will not be noticed. When they exit the vehicl they immediately display their badge for all to see