Two transit cops shot and killed an armed straphanger in a terrifying Jan. 3 gunfight at the Fort Hamilton Parkway station that left both officers and an unlucky commuter wounded.
Plainclothes cops Michael Levay and Lukasz Kozicki confronted an N train passenger who allegedly walked between cars as the Manhattan-bound train pulled into the station near 62nd Street at around 7:32 pm — a violation of Metropolitan Transportation Authority rules.
When the pair approached the man and asked for his identification, he reached for his pocket as if he were retrieving his wallet — but instead grabbed a nine-millimeter Taurus handgun from his waistband and opened fire, according to the NYPD press office.
Kozicki suffered gunshots to each thigh and one to his groin, while another round struck Levay in his lower back.
A bullet grazed a straphanger as passengers fled.
Levay shot back and killed the gunman, whose name has not been released.
Police sources said the gunman has five prior arrests, and witness told cops that the shooter appeared to aim below the cops’ bulletproof vests.
Ambulances took Kozicki and Levay to Lutheran Medical Center, where both remain in stable condition.
“We’re grateful they’re going back to their families,” Mayor Bloomberg said at a press conference.
Reach reporter Will Bredderman at wbredderman@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4507. Follow him at twitter.com/WillBredderman.