Queens police shooting: MTA cops kill man accused of groping 19-year-old

QUEENS, N.Y. - Two MTA officers shot and killed a man in Jamaica, Queens, while attempting to arrest him for allegedly groping a 19-year-old woman.

MTA Police have identified the man as 52-year-old Bashe McDaniel.

Police say McDaniel was on parole on gun-related charges. 

The woman approached officers at the MTAPD Jamaica district office shortly after 10 p.m. Friday and said a man had grabbed her breasts and blocked her path on the sidewalk, according to the MTAPD.

She showed cops a picture of the alleged perp, who they say was wearing a distinctive jacket. 

Police began canvassing the area, and two officers spotted the 52-year-old man wearing the same jacket near 91st Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard, officials said.

They attempted to arrest the alleged groper, who refused to comply with officers and reached toward his waistband, according to the MTAPD. That's when the two cops stepped back, pulled out their service weapons and saw the man's MAC-10 submachine gun with a 30-round extended magazine.

Both officers fired, striking the man in the head and elsewhere, according to police. He was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital shortly after. Police have not released his identity, pending family notification. 

The suspect's gun was recovered at the scene.

The officers were also treated for trauma, police said.

An investigation is ongoing, and the incident was captured on body cameras, according to the MTAPD.

Police are also looking into how McDaniel was able to obtain the MAC-10 submachine gun that he was carrying. 

According to the MTA, this was the third fatal shooting by MTA Police officers in the department's 26-year history, and only the fifth time an MTAPD officer has fired in the line of duty. The most recent MTAPD officer-involved shooting prior to this incident was nearly 13 years ago, on March 12, 2011.