NYPD cop from Yonkers charged with attempted murder in NJ road-rage shooting

A New York City police officer from Yonkers has been charged with attempted murder in New Jersey for a road rage incident in which he allegedly used his service weapon to shoot another motorist, the Camden County Prosecutors Office said Friday.

Hieu Tran, 27, was arrested Thursday at NYPD headquarters in Manhattan, where the three-year veteran worked in the department's press office.

Tran was off-duty late on May 17 when he apparently fired from his SUV, injuring a 30-year-old Voorhees Township resident who was in a truck next to Tran.

According to a probable cause affidavit by Voorhees Det. Cody Skinner, police arrived at the intersection of Route 73 and Cooper Road on reports of a multi-vehicle crash. They found the wounded victim in his truck, with bullet marks on the side of it and three 9mm shell casings in the road.

The victim was hospitalized and was still in critical condition as of Thursday, according to the affidavit.

A review of surveillance video showed the truck pull up alongside the white SUV at the traffic light. Skinner does not specify whether the video captured the shooting but wrote that the truck then ran through the red light and crashed into another car, injuring the female driver.

Tran's SUV then ran the red light and drove off.

Detectives tracked the SUV to a gas station about eight miles away n Mount Laurel where Tran bought gas using a credit card in his name. They also learned that Tran owned a white SUV and eventually they found his cell phone had tracked the route of the SUV.

Skinner wrote that detectives obtained Tran's NYPD-issued service weapon on Thursday and a forensic comparison showed the shell casings found at the shooting scene came from Tran's gun.

Tran lives just north of the Bronx border in a Riverdale Avenue apartment building. It was unknown why he was in South Jersey on the night of the shooting.

He has been suspended without pay, according to the NYPD. Before joining the press office last year, Tran worked for two years in the 28th Precinct in Harlem, where he was credited with making 10 arrests. He had no disciplinary record, according to his department profile.

He is charged with first-degree attempted murder, second-degree aggravated assault and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

He made an initial appearance Friday morning in Manhattan criminal court, where he waived extradition. He has since been transfered to the Camden County Jail to await a detention hearing.

Staff writer Jim Walsh of The Courier Post in New Jersey contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NYPD cop from Yonkers charged with attempted murder in shooting