Man indicted on attempted murder for shooting at NYPD officers in Queens

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A man was indicted on Wednesday for attempted murder after allegedly firing at two NYPD officers while being chased in Queens last month, prosecutors said.

Joel Kelly, 60, was indicted on charges of attempted murder in the first degree, attempted assault in the first degree, and other crimes for firing at two officers as they pursued him in Edgemere after responding to a call about shots fired.

According to court documents, on July 27, around 12 a.m., Kelly visited his sister's apartment in the Beach 41st Street Houses. After his sister asked him to leave, Kelly was allegedly seen outside the building nearly half an hour later holding what appeared to be a pistol.

He then allegedly fired one shot into the air, continued walking, and turned around again to fire a second shot, according to prosecutors.

Police responded to the scene after a 911 report about the gunfire. When they arrived, they saw Kelly walking and began to chase him.

As they tried to apprehend him, Kelly allegedly turned around, raised his arm while holding a pistol, and fired in the direction of the two officers. Fortunately, the officers were not hit.

Kelly then fled, discarding a firearm as he ran, causing the magazine of the 9mm pistol, a ghost gun, to dislodge. The ghost gun was recovered from the scene, along with two 9mm spent shell casings, one live round, and three bullet fragments found in the hallway outside Kelly’s sister’s apartment.

“My office will aggressively prosecute attempts on the lives of police officers who are sworn to serve and protect our city,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “After presenting the facts of this case, we secured a grand jury indictment on attempted murder charges against this defendant for allegedly firing at two officers who were simply doing their job when they responded to a 911 call of shots fired.”

Kelly was arraigned today on a 10-count indictment charging him, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, three counts of reckless endangerment, and additional counts of criminal possession of a weapon in addition to attempted murder and attempted assault.

If convicted of the top charge, Kelly faces a maximum sentence of up to 40 years to life in prison.