D.A. Indicts Ex-con Accused of Wounding NYPD Officer in Downtown Shootout

A 34-year-old man who wounded a detective and fired on several other police officers as they tried to execute a search warrant in a pre-dawn raid at a downtown public housing complex was charged on March 3 with four counts of attempted murder.

Edwin Rivera, the alleged shooter, is also facing one count of attempted murder and one count of criminal possession of weapon for the shooting that left Detective Terry Avent wounded in the left shoulder on Feb. 18. Rivera was shot in the left leg and torso after police returned fire near the end of a three hour hour standoff.

Both were rushed to Bellevue Hospital on the day of the shooting with non-life threatening injuries. Avent was discharged later that same day and did not need surgery. Rivera was also discharged later that day and taken to Rikers Island, where he has been held without bail.

On the day of the shooting, Mayor Eric Adams visited Avent, who was with his and young son, while he was still in Bellevue. Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch that day blasted the District Attorney for releasing Rivera in his own recognizance after he was picked up on an earlier charge for parole violation last November. He already had a long rap sheet that included drug and gun busts, Tisch said.

“We have absolutely no tolerance for any conduct that harms police officers, and the charges in this indictment reflect the seriousness with which we are treating this incident,” said Bragg. “I want to thank the members of the NYPD who put on their uniforms every day to selflessly protect New Yorkers. Their jobs are incredibly dangerous, and I hope the detective who was shot will continue to recover from his injuries. I thank him, and everyone else on the scene that day, for their bravery and commitment to keeping everyone safe.”

Commissioner Tisch was also quoted in the same release as Bragg indicating there may be some thawing in the frosty relationship after the firery words Tisch had spoken the day of the shooting when she said the NYPD could just as easily have been planning a funeral that day.

“The shooting of a uniformed police officer is an attack on our entire city,” said Tisch. “This indictment serves as a stark reminder of the dangers that NYPD police officers face every day while working to keep New York City safe.”

A few more details emerged on the shooting. Police had attempted to serve the warrant to the apartment building at 384 Madison St. inside the Vladeck public housing complex shortly at 5:04 a.m. They said they were met with a hail of bullets as cops pulled back from the building and attempted to negotiate with him over the next three hours.

Prosecutors also claimed Rivera threw a “bag of drugs” through his window onto the street while they were negotiating. There were no drug charges in the indictment, At one point, they feared Rivera might have a woman hostage but that proved to be untrue. At another point, Rivera, who had barricaded the door with a sofa, broke off contact with police.

At that point, police rushed the apartment and Detective Avent was hit in the left shoulder. Cops fired back and wounded Diaz in the leg and left torso.

Diaz is being represented by attorney Jason Goldman who has a history of getting high profile defendants off. Past cases included a sucker punching Rangers fan, who received a no jail sentence after breaking the jaw of another fan after a game at Madison Square Garden and a defendant who had manslaughter charges dismissed after stabbing a man who died on the J train.

Goldman said his client entered a plea of not guilty. “He was charged pretty aggressively considering he sustained pretty serious injuries himself... I think there is a pretty good narrative to bring to light about his himself, his family and his support system.”

He’ll have a chance to tell it to the judge when he’s next due back in court on June 9th.