Fort Greene man gets 11 years for shooting at three cops

June 7, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Mug shot of Quashawn Smith. Courtesy of Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.

Share this:

A 25-year-old man from Fort Greene was sentenced to 11 years in prison Wednesday for shooting at three police officers and engaging a shootout in the middle of the street.

Quashawn Smith was sentenced before Judge Michael Gary at Brooklyn Supreme Court for second-degree attempted murder after he opened fire on three police officers in an unmarked car near Park Avenue and North Portland Avenue in Fort Greene on Oct. 7, 2015.

“These three officers were out on patrol, doing what many of our brave members of the New York City Police Department do every day — putting their lives on the line to ensure our safety,” Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “For this defendant to attack them so deliberately is truly unconscionable. I will not stand for such wanton violence against anyone in this borough, let alone against those sworn to protect us.”

Smith stood on the sidewalk, along with two other men, when three police officers drove by on patrol in an unmarked car and the officers thought they recognized one of the men as a local robber, according to officials.

The officers circled back to the men when they saw one man had left and Smith was crossing the street with a bag of luggage. Davon Morrison, another defendant, then gestured with his hands from across the street, mimicking pistols. Smith then reportedly crouched between two cars and opened fire towards the officers’ vehicle.

The officers returned fire and wounded Smith, who then fled before police could catch him.

Smith was then caught the next day on Oct. 8, 2015 at Beth Israel Hospital. He admitted to shooting at a black vehicle and tossing a gun under a car. Morrison was later caught in a nearby apartment that same day.

Smith pleaded guilty on April 17.

None of the police officers were wounded during the incident.