An off-duty NYPD officer shot and killed a 30-year-old migrant who pulled a gun on him in Manhattan, police said Monday.
The man who died, Lahione Soto, is suspected of being involved in several robberies that happened shortly before the shooting, according to police sources.
The incident happened around 9:45 p.m. Sunday in Washington Heights. Soto, riding a white moped, pulled out a gun and confronted the officer, who fired three shots into Soto’s chest, police said.
Soto had come to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic in June 2024, crossing the border illegally in El Paso, Texas, police sources added.
The officer was standing outside a building near W. 173rd St. and Amsterdam Ave. when Soto and another man rode up on mopeds.
“Does Steve live here?” Soto asked, according to police. Moments later, he pulled out a gun.
NYPD Deputy Chief Eric Pagan explained at a news conference: “Once seeing the firearm, the off-duty officer drew his firearm, discharged multiple rounds, striking the male. The second male then fled the location on his moped.”
The second man, dressed in all black with a sweatshirt showing the Gap logo, escaped on a black moped heading south on Amsterdam Ave. He has not been caught.
Soto was taken to Harlem Hospital but could not be saved. The officer was treated for ringing in his ears, sources said. A gun was found at the scene.
Police believe Soto and his partner were responsible for a series of chain-snatching robberies in the area minutes before the shooting.
A 55-year-old man reported being robbed at Broadway and W. 162nd St. by two men on mopeds who threatened him with a gun. “Give me what you got or I will shoot you,” the victim said he was told.
Around the same time, a 52-year-old woman and her 31-year-old husband said two men on a moped robbed them of jewelry on Broadway and W. 158th St. The robbers hit the husband in the head and knee with a gun before taking his chain.
About two hours later, another victim, age 27, reported his moped was stolen at gunpoint near Broadway and St. Nicholas Ave. Police later found the stolen moped near W. 173rd St. and Amsterdam Ave.
This case marks the third NYPD shooting in less than a week.
On Friday night, 44-year-old Jesse Campbell was killed in what police believe was a “suicide-by-cop” outside a Staten Island diner. Campbell, who had a fake pistol, pointed it at two off-duty officers. One officer fired, striking him multiple times. Campbell’s mother said he had been struggling with addiction and PTSD and wanted to die.
Last Tuesday, officers shot and wounded 22-year-old Edynesson Bauduy, a two-time felon, during a gunfight with another man in Brooklyn. Bauduy was hospitalized and charged with federal gun crimes. The other man, Aaron Richard, was later arrested and also charged.
