QUEENS, NY — On Thursday February 14th, two days after NYPD Detective Brian Simonsen, was tragically shot, the Richmond Hill South Ozone Park (RHSOP) Lions Club raised a flag of mourning in support of the NYPD at the Romeo Hitlall Triangle, 133rd Street & Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill.
Detective Brian Simonsen, 42, was killed by “friendly fire,” while responding to a robbery in Richmond Hill, Queens. The suspect in the case had started charging toward officers with a large, fake gun inside a T-Mobile cell phone store on Atlantic Avenue. Seven officers fired 42 shots, and one hit Detective Simonsen fatally in the chest, according to reports.
“The only two people responsible for Brian’s death are the career criminals who went to that store,” an emotional NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill was reported as saying during the eulogy at the officer’s funeral.
He received a standing ovation, after announcing that Simonsen would be promoted posthumously to Detective First Grade.