CUNY Campus Peace Officer Rondell Goppy was shot and killed by two NYPD officers on Nov. 24 in the Springfield Garden area of Queens after he allegedly fired his gun on the two officers.
The two officers have been identified as 36-year-old Christopher Wells and 33-year-old Joseph Murphy.
According to The Queens Eagle, the two officers were escorting Goppy’s wife, Sharon Goppy, back to her residence after she filed a report of domestic violence against her husband.
When the police officers arrived at the Goppy residence, the CPO approached the home at 179th street and opened fire, according to police.
“Almost instantaneously he walks in the front door and starts shooting at our two officers,” NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a press conference.
The officers returned fire and Goppy was pronounced dead on the scene. One officer was reportedly shot in both of his hands, while the other officer was shot in the thigh.
Goppy’s wife was not injured. The two officers were treated for their injuries at Jamaica Hospital.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio visited the officers at the hospital, where he praised the officers for their work in handling the situation.
“They have serious injuries, but ultimately they’re going to be okay,” De Blasio said during a press conference held outside Jamaica Hospital. “Here we have a situation where a woman was in danger and these officers went to protect her, today they saved that woman’s life because those officers were there, that woman is alive.”
According to Shea, there is a history of 911 calls to the Goppy residence.
A NYPD spokesperson told News 4 New York that police had been called to the residence four times prior to the shooting.
Goppy was a 41-year old-crime prevention specialist for the CUNY school system. He worked at City College in Upper Manhattan.
CUNY released a statement soon after the incident.
“The City College of New York community learned today that Specialist Rondell Goppy, a City College Public Safety Officer, lost his life in the course of an apparent domestic violence incident at his home in Queens. The City College community extends its deepest sympathies to Officer Goppy’s family,” CUNY said in a statement to Patch.com.
Shea said that there would be an investigation into why Goppy still had access to firearms despite his past history of domestic violence reports, although police informed the press that Goppy’s guns had been taken way in the past.
A law enforcement official, who spoke to the Associated Press, confirmed both Goppy’s past domestic incidents and that his guns had been taken from him before being returned to him.
