NY Daily News
Tied to 3 attacks on city's Finest
A trigger-happy cop hater - who once owned the pistol used to kill Officer Dillon Stewart - fired an Uzi machine gun at police in Brooklyn early yesterday, sparking a wild shootout that left him wounded and whimpering, authorities said.

Multiple bullets tore into Damian Henry, 25, but the bloodthirsty hoodlum somehow survived the gun battle outside a nightclub in East Flatbush, police said.

"There were lots of flashes," Al Zirini said after watching footage of the shooting caught by his restaurant's security camera on Utica Ave. "He was just spraying it. Who carries around an Uzi, anyway?"

Uzi maniac shot by cops

NY Daily News

Tied to 3 attacks on city’s Finest

A trigger-happy cop hater – who once owned the pistol used to kill Officer Dillon Stewart – fired an Uzi machine gun at police in Brooklyn early yesterday, sparking a wild shootout that left him wounded and whimpering, authorities said.

Multiple bullets tore into Damian Henry, 25, but the bloodthirsty hoodlum somehow survived the gun battle outside a nightclub in East Flatbush, police said.

“There were lots of flashes,” Al Zirini said after watching footage of the shooting caught by his restaurant’s security camera on Utica Ave. “He was just spraying it. Who carries around an Uzi, anyway?”

Henry was busted in 2002 for allegedly shooting rookie cop Crystal Jeffrey. He later was acquitted of attempted murder charges but landed in trouble again.

Even before yesterday’s mayhem, he was facing another attempted murder charge for allegedly spraying bullets into a restaurant last June simply because a waitress had asked him to put out his cigarette.

“The lives of too many police officers have been put at risk because of this recidivist,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “He has no business being on the street. Clearly the assault weapon he fired had no business being on the street, either.”

Henry was at Kings County Hospital in stable condition last night. A police source said he had 18 holes in his body, but it wasn’t clear how many were bullet entry wounds.

At the hospital, Henry recognized a detective who had investigated the Stewart shooting, a source said. “Yo, help me out,” Henry begged.

Hours earlier, Henry had allegedly fired at least twice at cops with the black, 2-foot-long Uzi, which holds 30 rounds. An NYPD sergeant and police officer, both from the 67th Precinct, shot more than 30 times at Henry. The cops were not hurt.

The gunfight began about 4:30 a.m., shortly after Henry returned to the Ragtop Lounge, a reggae club at 1308 Utica Ave. where he had been hanging out earlier, witnesses and cops said.

A bouncer patted him down, spotted the huge weapon and refused to let him back in. A club employee then called the cops, a police source said.

The sergeant and cop quickly rolled up in an unmarked black Chevy Impala. They heard Henry fire once as they got out of the car, police said.

The cops ordered him to drop the weapon and chased him across Utica Ave., getting as close as 15 feet away before he fired over his shoulder at them, according to the owner of a nearby auto repair shop.

The two decorated cops returned fire. Their shots dropped Henry to the pavement, his gun slamming down near the curb and spilling ammo onto the ground.

“He’s toting so much firepower that his gun lights right up with the muzzle blast,” a police source said. “What’s a mutt like that doing out on the street, anyway?”

Charges were pending against Henry, whose name surfaced in November in the investigation of Stewart’s murder in Brooklyn. Forensics tests on the handgun used to slay Stewart linked the 9-mm. Glock to Henry.

He allegedly had used the same stolen pistol six months earlier to spray bullets into the Tropical Paradise restaurant, a short walk from yesterday’s shootout.

The restaurant owner, Dave Gayle, a retired correction officer, said a cigarette-puffing Henry strolled into the eatery around 1 a.m. last June 4. He allegedly opened fire after being told he couldn’t smoke inside.

Henry was arrested and freed on a $50,000 bond. But the gun wasn’t found until Stewart was shot to death, allegedly by another man, Allan Cameron. Cops say it’s unclear how the Glock passed from Henry to Cameron.

A preliminary check showed the Uzi hadn’t been used in other shootings, police said.

Henry’s relatives insisted cops had it in for him, noting he had spent 19 months in jail before being acquitted in December 2003 of shooting Jeffrey in Flatbush. He later filed a $20 million wrongful-arrest lawsuit that is pending.

After Henry was cleared, Jeffrey predicted that he would get into trouble again. “He’s going to kill somebody,” she said.

Damian Henry’s history with guns:

May 17, 2002 – Police Officer Crystal Jeffrey is shot in the arm and hand by a rooftop gunman in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

May 18, 2002 – Damian Henry is arrested for the shooting and charged with attempted murder, assault and weapons possession. Dec. 9, 2003 – Brooklyn jury acquits Henry, who has spent 19 months in jail.

Early 2004 – Henry files $20 million federal civil rights lawsuit against NYPD and Brooklyn district attorney for wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution. Source says he later turns down a $600,000 settlement offer. The case is pending.

June 4, 2005 – Henry allegedly sprays at least eight shots into the Tropical Paradise restaurant in Flatbush after being kicked out for smoking. He is charged with attempted second-degree murder and other crimes, and released on $50,000 bail. His gun is not recovered.

Nov. 29, 2005 – Police reveal that forensics tests on the handgun used to kill Brooklyn cop Dillon Stewart two days earlier linked the weapon to Henry, who allegedly used the Glock pistol in the Tropical Paradise shooting. Cops aren’t sure how the gun passed from Henry to Stewart’s alleged shooter, Allan Cameron.

4 Comments

  • capitol punishment

    a trigger happy cop shooter lie this, definately is a good reeason to reinstate the deah-penalty. People like this, who can spray a resturant out on bail, and shoot three cops, walking around the city with an uzi, don’t desrve to walk the city!