Cop's Stray Bullet Strikes Atlantic Ave. Window

A police officer's gun accidentally fired Tuesday striking an apartment window above on Atlantic Ave., as officers tried to stop a suspected car thief, cops said. 

The stolen car, which bystanders say was a gray BMW, smashed into a parked trailer on Atlantic Avenue near Clinton Street being used on the set of the new ABC show, "Pan Am."

"I was scared," said Barbara Wilson, an East New York resident who had just left a doctor's appointment at Long Island College Hospital. "I can't believe it [the bullet] went up there."

According to a report in the Daily News, several mothers and their babies were having a "play date" in the room where the bullet smashed through the window.

"He could have killed us," said Schoolteacher Holly Morrison, 31, of the cop who let loose the round. "Two feet lower and it would have killed me."

Police originally received a 911 call around 1 p.m. from a woman whose car had been stolen, and followed the car from Jay and Willoughby streets to Jay and Tillary streets.

Wilson and another witness, who chose to only be identified as Ibrahim, said they saw two police officers in plain clothes arguing with a man in the BMW. Wilson said she heard one of the officers tell the man to "get the f--- out of the car."

Both said they spotted one of the officer's striking a gun against the window of the car before they heard a shot go off.

"We heard the bullet hit the wall," said Ibrahim, who was picking up his dry cleaning on the corner.

In an attempt to escape, the driver threw the car in reverse. As he moved to avoid the vehicle, one of the officers fired the single round, officials said.

The car quickly sped off after the shot was fired and has not yet been located. No arrests have been made.

No injuries were reported inside 166 Atlantic Ave., where the bullet struck. The officer sustained minor injuries and was taken to the hospital to be treated.