A California man who skipped town after being accused of molesting a boy was killed and three law enforcement officers trying to arrest him were wounded in a daytime shootout inside a small smoke shop in one of New York's most bustling neighbourhoods.
The man, Charles Richard Mozdir, was recently featured on a CNN show about fugitives. He was wanted in a San Diego case and was charged with lewd acts upon a child younger than 14, a criminal complaint said.
The shootout between Mozdir and members of the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force happened just after 1pm on Monday in Greenwich Village in a highly trafficked tourist area marked by jazz clubs, restaurants, a subway station and a basketball court.
Mozdir's handgun was recovered at the scene, and 20 extra rounds of ammunition were found in his pocket, Police Commissioner William Bratton said.
A police detective first entered the narrow smoke shop and identified Mozdir, who apparently was alone, Police Commissioner Bratton said, before leaving and returning with the US marshals.
The detective was shot at least twice, in the stomach below his protective vest and in the right chest, which could have been deadly were it not stopped by the vest, Bratton said at a hospital.
One US marshal was shot in the elbow and another in his buttocks, he said. All three were in stable condition and had been visited by city and federal officials.
Edoardo Gelardin, who was heading to lunch shortly after the shooting when he saw officers loading the victims into ambulances and officers with assault weapons sealing off the scene, said it was "shocking and out of place".
A $US1 million bench warrant was issued for Mozdir's arrest in June 2012 after he skipped an arraignment in San Diego Superior Court on child sexual assault charges, a spokesman for the San Diego County district attorney said.
Mozdir, a wedding photographer, also had been charged with attempting to dissuade a witness from prosecution, the criminal complaint said. He had posted $US250,000 bail.
Mozdir's case had recently been featured on CNN's The Hunt with John Walsh. Mozdir was accused of abusing the boy while babysitting him, and authorities later found evidence of child pornography and bestiality on his mobilephone and computers, according to the show's website, quoting federal authorities.
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