A wild gun battle in Brooklyn’s crowded Fulton Mall last night sent shoppers diving for cover as a moonlighting cop killed a suspected shoplifter after he pulled a gun, police said.
Police said two other people were wounded in the violence, which began at 5:48 p.m. at the Jimmy Jazz clothing store, at 520 Fulton St.
Two men set off a security alarm as they left the store with merchandise the off-duty cop – who was working as a security guard – believed had been stolen.
When the officer confronted them, one of the men pulled out a gun and a struggle ensued, said Assistant Chief Joseph Esposito.
Store manager Reyyaz Salley, who was in New Jersey, was checking in by phone when he heard “a lot of yelling” followed by gunshots.
Police estimated about a dozen shots were fired, blowing out the store’s window and sending bullets into the mall area.
The cop, who was not identified, shot the 17-year-old gunman, Malcolm Bruno, in the chest, police said.
Witnesses told police the second suspect, Claude Muller – Bruno’s stepbrother – grabbed Bruno’s gun and fled.
Bruno was pronounced dead at Brooklyn Hospital. Muller, 28, was arrested when he turned up at Bellevue Hospital, seeking treatment for a leg wound.
A clerk standing in back of the store also was shot in the leg and taken to St. Vincents Hospital in Manhattan in stable condition. It was unclear who shot the clerk.
The cop suffered chipped teeth and other minor injuries.