It’s one of those stories that make you wonder if angels are looking over our shoulders.
Two cops from the 76th Precinct were counting their lucky stars Tuesday after a thug’s gun jammed; never firing the two bullets that could have ended their lives.
“It’s incredible,” said Inspector Michael Kemper, the commanding officer of the 76th Precinct. “These cops were very lucky.”
Officials said that Police Officers Joseph Gonzalez, 29, and Maggie Clamp, 32, were on patrol Tuesday night when they were dispatched to a 911 call about a man with a gun.
The two went to the corner of Henry Street and 2nd Place where a retired detective said that he had just seen a 17-year-old male walking down the block with silver-colored gun in his hand.
The teen was walking down the street with a group of other youths, said the detective, who jumped into the officers’ patrol car to scout the area for the gunman.
After a brief search of the area, the officers found the teen on Hicks Street.
They got out of their cruiser and told the teen not to move, but the would-be gunman bolted, witnesses said.
Thus began a five-block chase through the neighborhood in which the teen, a resident of Manhattan, raised his .380 semi-automatic twice and pulled the trigger.
But nothing happened.
Each time, the officers, who had their own guns out, ducked out of the way but never returned fire, police said. They finally apprehended the teen following a brief struggle on Dwight Street.
Cops recovered the gun, and found two bullets lodged in the barrel.
The back of one of the bullets was dimpled, meaning that it had been struck by the firing pin.
“The gun just misfired,” said Kemper, who said that the teen was charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of marijuana.
Officials said that both Police Officers Gonzalez and Clamp have less than three years with the NYPD.
In just 36 months on the job, they had to face down something that cops usually never experience in their entire careers, explained Kemper, who lauded them for their “incredible firearms control.”
“This was a truly traumatic situation, yet these officers didn’t fire any shots and no one was injured,” said Kemper. “I think they did a great job.”
