New York man charged with attempted murder of federal task force officer in Yonkers

A 24-year-old New York man on Monday was charged with attempting to murder a federal task force officer following a Friday shooting in Yonkers, the U.S. attorney's office in New York's South District said.

Authorities claim Darren Smith took off running with a gun after officers tried to stop his car on Friday. Smith allegedly fired his gun in Getty Square, a public square in downtown Yonkers, as law enforcement attempted to take him into custody.

An officer with the FBI task force in Yonkers tried to grab the gun out of Smith's hand to prevent another round of fire, at which point Smith fought with the officer and tried to turn the gun around in the officer's direction and fire. The officer ultimately wrestled the gun from Smith's hand, walking away with a fractured finger, sprained knee, and multiple hand abrasions. No one else was hurt in the melee.

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Smith is scheduled to appear before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Davidson in a White Plains federal courtroom on Monday.

Smith has been charged with one count of attempting to murder a federal officer, one count of using a deadly weapon to interfere with the performance of a federal officer's official duties, and one count of discharging a firearm in the course of a crime of violence. If convicted on all of the charges, he could spend 50 years in prison.

"As law enforcement professionals, we all take an oath to protect the public from harm," FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney Jr. said in a written statement. "When this subject allegedly fired his gun wildly into a public square to prevent his arrest, police officers, including a task force officer from our Westchester Safe Streets Task Force, took immediate action to prevent innocent people from being killed or injured by stray bullets. We take our oath seriously, and we won't back away from our pursuit of holding criminals accountable for their actions."

Yonkers Police Commissioner John Muller called Friday's incident "one of the most depraved and reckless acts I have witnessed in my 28 years in law enforcement."

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He also praised police officers for "one of the most heroic and selfless acts" he had witnessed in his career and thanked the community for their "outpouring" of support and well wishes.