An NYPD assistant chief’s gun discharged over the weekend during an altercation with a man he believed was harassing his daughter, according to police and published reports.
Nobody was hit when Assistant Chief Benjamin Gurley’s gun went off during the altercation Sunday night, May 24, outside the Shop Rite in Garnerville, although both men were taken to a hospital for observation and released, Haverstraw town police said.
In a news release Tuesday afternoon, police did not identify either man other than to say one was an off-duty NYPD member. The New York Daily News and New York Post reported earlier that it was Gurley.
The release said police responded to the Rosman Road side of the parking lot after learning of the altercation. They said the gun was licensed to the NYPD member and went off after it had been removed from his waistband.
Police Chief John Gould Jr. said video is still being reviewed to determine the circumstances of how the gun was removed from the waistband.
According to the news release, the altercation may have stemmed from the other man harassing the cop’s daughter. It emphasized that the daughter and that man were acquaintances and “are not, nor have they ever been, in any form of domestic relationship.”
No charges had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon and the Rockland District Attorney’s Office is assisting town police in the investigation.
The NYPD referred questions about the incident to Haverstraw police. A spokesperson identified Gurley only as an NYPD executive and said he had been placed on modified duty as the department’s Force Investigation Division and Internal Affairs Bureau investigate.
Gurley joined the NYPD in 2000. He was promoted to assistant chief in 2023, at which time he was put in charge of the Patrol Borough Bronx. Last week, a second Bronx patrol command was created for the first time and Gurley was put in charge of Bronx North.
Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon Gurley declined to comment.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to call Haverstraw detectives at (845) 354-1500.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NYPD assistant chief’s gun went off during altercation in Haverstraw
Reporting by Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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