NYPD officer allegedly shot man in New Jersey driving aggression incident

An NYPD press officer has been charged with shooting a man with his service weapon during a driving rage incident in New Jersey last month, prosecutors said.

Hieu Tran, a 27-year-old police officer who works as a photographer in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information for the New York City Police Department, is facing attempted murder charges in the Garden State for the May 17 incident at Route 73 and Cooper Road in Camden County.

Police believe the shooting stemmed from a traffic accident involving Tran and the victim, a 30-year-old man.

According to the Camden County District Attorney’s Office, police discovered a 30-year-old man with a gunshot wound around 11:13 p.m. on May 17 after being called to a multi-vehicle crash. The victim was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where he remains nearly a month later.

Prosecutors said they worked with police to trace ballistics data to Tran’s service weapon and used cellphone records and video surveillance footage to handcuff Tran.

Tran appeared in court Thursday morning, shortly after being handcuffed earlier that day, standing with his head bowed and looking sad. He was ordered extradited to New Jersey to face trial and prosecution.

Tran previously worked in the 28th Districtfrom where several new officers have been transferred to the DCPI in recent months.

He reportedly oversaw the NYPD’s social media efforts and was often seen taking photographs with a camera around his neck, most famously documenting the mass arrests at Columbia University on April 30.

According to an NYPD spokesman, Tran was suspended pending prosecution.