By Sasha Gonzales
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A Bronx police officer was shot and killed during a struggle early Sunday with a man he had pursued in a foot chase, officials said.
Brian Mulkeen, 33, was killed around 12:30 a.m. outside the Edenwald Houses, according to the NYPD.
The six-year-NYPD veteran was patrolling the area with four other cops as part of the Bronx Borough Anti-Crime Unit, when they spotted a man they deemed suspicious, police said.
The officers jumped out of their patrol car. Mulkeen and his partner chased the fleeing man down, then wrestled him to the pavement.
Amid the struggle, multiple shots were fired. Mulkeen was struck by bullets in his head, chest, and legs—all fired from his own gun as he wrestled the other man, police said.
The officer’s last words, as captured by a body camera, were: “He’s reaching for it! He’s reaching for it!” NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said.
Other officers on scene shot and killed the man. He was carrying a .32 caliber handgun at the time, police said.
Mulkeen was pronounced dead at Jacobi Hospital.