Police say the officer believed he had found a previously stolen family vehicle in Kingsbridge.
NEW YORK — An off-duty NYPD detective shot a 30-year-old man in the head in the Bronx late Monday after confronting people inside a vehicle tied to a previously reported theft, police and local reports said, leaving the man in critical condition and the officer under investigation.
The shooting quickly became a high-profile case for the department because it involved an off-duty officer, a wounded civilian, and gunfire that crossed a busy street and shattered a bar window near a passing city bus. By Wednesday, the detective had been stripped of his badge and gun, removed from regular duties, and placed on modified or desk duty while the NYPD’s Force Investigation Division examined whether the shooting was justified and whether any criminal charges would follow.
Police said the shooting happened just before 9:15 p.m. Monday near West 231st Street and Albany Crescent in Kingsbridge Heights. Investigators said the officer had been tracking a vehicle reported stolen from his family and came upon it with three men inside. Surveillance video described by local outlets showed a dark-colored vehicle pulling up behind a lighter-colored car, then a man stepping out with a gun and moving toward someone near the driver’s side. In another view, shots are heard off camera as the lighter-colored car pulls away. ABC7 reported that video appeared to show the off-duty officer drawing his weapon, aiming it, and pinning a man near the vehicle before the shot was fired. Police said at least one round entered through the driver’s side window and struck a passenger in the head.
The injured man, who police did not publicly identify, was 30 years old and was taken by private means to a local hospital, where he remained in critical condition. Early accounts differed on the number of shots fired, with CBS reporting at least two shots and ABC7 describing surveillance that appeared to capture a single shot. What is not in dispute is that the bullet path raised fresh questions about the danger to bystanders. Reports said the round continued past the vehicle, narrowly missed a BX10 bus traveling through the area and then smashed the window of The Bronx Public bar across the street. No one inside the bar, outside on the sidewalk or aboard the bus was reported injured. The NYPD has not said whether the people in the car were armed, whether any weapon was recovered from them, or what exact threat the officer said he faced when he pulled the trigger.
The case also drew attention because of who the officer was and where he worked. Local reports identified him as an NYPD detective assigned to the Intelligence Division, and Gothamist later reported the officer was 44-year-old Jonathan Baez, part of the Gracie Mansion security detail, and that city records showed he joined the force in 2014. The department had not filed charges by Wednesday morning, but it had already taken the common administrative steps used in police shooting investigations by suspending his full police powers, taking his firearm and assigning him to modified duty. The Force Investigation Division is reviewing the encounter, and investigators are expected to examine surveillance footage, ballistics evidence, radio transmissions, prior reports on the stolen vehicle and any statements from the officer, witnesses and the men in the car. It also remained unclear whether prosecutors would wait for a fuller investigative file before deciding on possible charges.
At street level, the shooting left neighbors and business workers shaken in a busy Bronx corridor lined with apartments, traffic and storefronts. A manager at The Bronx Public told ABC7 that people inside first thought a bus tire had blown before the front window burst. “Everybody was like ‘oh my god, that’s a shot,’” she said. She later questioned why the officer fired after the confrontation had already reached close range near the car. “You’ve got the person down, why do you have to shoot the car?” she said. Those remarks captured the unease surrounding the scene: a police officer was off duty, the target was in a vehicle, and the bullet traveled far enough to strike nearby property in an area where evening foot traffic and transit service could easily have produced more victims. By Wednesday, investigators were still piecing together the seconds before the shot and whether the officer’s account matched the video.
As of Wednesday, the wounded man remained hospitalized in critical condition, the detective remained off the street, and no arrest had been announced. The next major step is the outcome of the NYPD investigation and any decision by prosecutors on whether charges or departmental discipline are warranted.
Author note: Last updated March 18, 2026.