A police department has released chilling footage, showing how quickly a calm situation can take a turn for officers after a cop’s body camera captured an ambush on video. Although we’re often told how dangerous the job of law enforcement can be, it’s another thing to see it with our own eyes.
Rondell Goppy, a 41-year-old Queens, New York man, inadvertently showed the world just how dangerous cops have it when he decided to ambush the police. One second, two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers were assisting a domestic violence victim, and the next, Goppy, the alleged abusive husband, was spraying them with bullets in a hail of gunfire — and it was all captured on video.
After the NYPD was alerted to a domestic violence case by a 41-year-old woman, who had walked into the 105th Precinct to report the abuse, officers accompanied the alleged victim back to the residence to collect her belongings, ABC 7 NY reported. Sadly, things did not go as planned, and the NYPD has since released the graphic body camera video to show just how quickly things can take a terrifying turn.
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At approximately 12:45 pm on a Tuesday afternoon, NYPD officers Joseph Murphy and Christopher Wells found themselves in a deadly shootout with Rondell Goppy after the pair had accompanied Goppy’s wife to the home to collect her things. Initially, however, everything seemed fine, which only proved later how quickly things can turn potentially deadly for cops, who are simply trying to do their job.
While inside the home, the officers offered solutions to the frightened woman, who feared her husband would harm her. The situation was calm as the two officers and the woman discussed her options. Soon, however, they’d find out firsthand just how dangerous the woman’s husband could be as all hell broke loose.
After suggesting that the woman could get a locksmith to change the locks on the home, Officer Murphy proposed that the woman consider leaving the house altogether, according to The Blaze. “Where does your sister live?” Murphy asked the woman, but rather than answer the question, the alleged battered wife issued an ominous warning instead after something quickly caught her eye through the front door.
“Oh, he’s coming. That’s him. He’s here,” the terrified woman announced all of the sudden. “Oooh, ooh!” she shakily shrieked as Goppy opened the front door. In the blink of an eye, gunshots rang out as the violent husband fired towards the police officers. Armed with a licensed Glock Model 22 .40 caliber firearm and a Smith & Wesson Model MP Shield 9 mm handgun, Goppy reportedly fired 11 shots in a matter of a few seconds.
Bullets struck Officer Wells in the thigh and he suffered a fractured femur. Officer Murphy was also shot, sustaining injuries to both of his hands. Although both officers required surgery, they miraculously survived the shootout as did Goppy’s wife, who was thankfully not injured at all. However, the same cannot be said for Rondell Goppy.
Determined to kill his wife, according to NY Daily News, he stepped over one of the wounded cops to try to get at her before he was gunned down in a hail of police bullets. With officers firing 24 shots in self-defense, Goppy, a City College security officer, was hit several times and died of his injuries, but the important lesson he unwittingly provided will live on.
“This video is chilling and difficult to watch, but it makes one thing clear: Police Officers Wells and Murphy saved lives,” Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch said, according to a press release from NYC PBA. “They saved the lives of that domestic violence victim and her children, and they saved each other’s lives – all because they had the training, skill, and courage of New York City police officers,” Lynch continued.
Indeed, the officers’ actions were met with praise as they were hailed heroes, but there was something much more important to be learned from this chilling footage, which Lynch pointed out: “For anyone questioning whether we need police officers responding to these types of situations, this video is the answer.”
Many others shared similar sentiments, including Delano Squires, who “has written extensively on the intersection of policy and culture,” according to his LinkedIn profile. “If you ever had any question abt how quickly seemingly innocuous situations escalate, watch this,” Squires wrote alongside the video as he posted it to Twitter. “I believe a national conversation on policing is a good thing, but it’s hard to have an honest conversation when much of the public has NO IDEA what goes on every day on the streets.”
I couldn’t have said it any better. While many have questioned whether or not police officers should be dispatched to such calls or if social workers would be a better option, this video provides a stark reminder of the reality that law enforcement faces when responding to the call of duty. You never know when a seemingly calm situation will turn deadly, and it can happen in an instant.
