The shooting happened outside Gracie Mansion, de Blasio’s official residence in Manhattan, around 7:15 p.m. Investigators believe he also used the pellet gun to break windows in the same neighborhood earlier this summer.
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A 19-year-old man was charged Monday morning with assault on a police officer after he allegedly fired a pellet that struck a member of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s security detail Sunday, the NYPD said. She was taken to the hospital with some bruising, and is expected to be okay.
Police said the officer’s partner immediately looked up and noticed people looking outside from an apartment building across the street.
Police, however, said they were yet to determine if the shooting was accidental or intentional, the New York Times reported. He is being charged with several crimes, including assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon.
An 18-year-old boy and a 17-year-old woman have been taken into custody for questioning.
She realized it was due to a pellet strike and suffered minor bruising from being hit outside the mayor’s home.
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Verbitsky reportedly told police that he had been playing with a Crosman 760 Pumpmaster air rifle, and was surprised that it went off. “It was just an accidental discharge of a BB gun by a 19-year-old”, said his attorney, Howard Levine.
