Cops Shot Record Low Number of Suspects Last Year

New York City cops killed nine suspects by gunfire, and injured 19 more during 2011, the second-lowest number in recent history, says a new NYPD report, according to the New York Times. 

The 82-page report — known as the annual firearms discharge report — looked at the 62 officers who fired their weapons last year, and found that two-thirds of the officers fired five or fewer shots. More than a quarter online fired a single shot, and in none of the encounters did the officers reload. 

According to the Times, of the nine suspects killed by police bullets, five were in possession of firearms, two had brandished knives, another had choked a detective and another was “using his vehicle as a weapon, injuring four civilians.”

During the 36 episodes in which police shot at suspects, five officers were injured by gunfire, with two of them injured by friendly fire.