Fort Greene Man Sentenced 11 Years For Attempted Murder Of Three Cops, Brooklyn DA Says

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — A Fort Greene man who instigated a shootout with three patrol officers was sentenced to 11 years in prison, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday.

The three officers first spotted 25-year-old Quashawn Smith talking with Davon Morrison — whom the officers suspected had committed several robberies — on the corner of Park and North Portland avenues on Oct. 7, 2015, around 10:45 p.m., prosecutors said.

The officers, who were on patrol in an unmarked black car, circled around the block and came back to find Morrison standing on the corner and Smith dragging a suitcase across the street, prosecutors said.

Morrison suddenly shaped his hands to look like guns and began making shooting gestures at Smith, who ducked between two parked cars, pulled out a pistol and began firing at the officers’ car, said prosecutors.

The officers whipped out their guns and shot Smith in the leg just as a bullet came crashing through the car’s rear window, said prosecutors.

The officers then jumped out of the car to chase after a wounded Smith, but he dropped his .45 caliber pistol, ran down the street and escaped immediate arrest, prosecutors said.

When police opened up the pink suitcase Smith had left behind, they found it was packed full with ammunition, Eyewitness News reported in 2015.

Smith and Morrison didn’t escape for long — one day later, police found Smith being treated for his gunshot wound in Beth Israel Hospital and Morrison in a nearby apartment, according to prosecutors.

Smith pleaded guilty to attempted murder in Brooklyn supreme court on April 17, 2017, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.

Morrison pleaded guilty to criminal use of a firearm in April 2017 and is currently awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said.

Smith’s attorney declined to comment on the case.

Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.