An off-duty NYPD officer was shot Saturday night during a suspected robbery in Brooklyn, officials said.

The officer was on Ruby Street in East New York Saturday at around 7 p.m. trying to buy a car he saw a listing for online, Michael Baldassano, assistant chief of the NYPD Detective Bureau, said. Sources say the car was listed on Facebook Marketplace.

"The arrangements for this purchase were made over a social media platform, and the location was selected. The officer arrived at the location accompanied by a relative," Baldassano said during a news conference Saturday night.

What You Need To Know

  • Officials said an off-duty NYPD officer was shot in the head Saturday night during a suspected robbery in Brooklyn

  • The officer, a five-year veteran of the NYPD, was transported to Brookdale Hospital in critical condition

  • Mayor Eric Adams will join "Mornings On 1" Monday morning to discuss asylum seekers in the city, the shooting of an off-duty police officer, illegal guns, the state's budget and more

Almost immediately, the suspect displayed a gun and announced that he was robbing the officer. After an exchange of gunfire, the officer was struck, according to Baldassano. Sources said the officer was shot in the head.

The officer, a five-year veteran of the NYPD, was then transported to Brookdale Hospital in critical condition, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.

"He is currently fighting for his life," Sewell said.

Police say that no arrests have been made in connection to the incident as of Sunday morning. The name, age and residence of the officer are currently unknown.

However, the Pakistani Law Enforcement Society, which was founded in 2015, asked for prayers on Twitter early Sunday morning, referring to the officer as "our member."

Mayor Eric Adams was briefed on the shooting and visited the officer at the hospital Saturday night.

"Too many illegal guns are in the hands of bad people and doing bad things," Adams said. "We will catch the person responsible for this act."

At Saturday night's news conference, Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, said politicians are living in a "fantasy world" and that the city needs help.

"Look at the devastation that those rounds caused to that young man's body. Listen to the cries of a wife, a father, a mother, their children. That's reality. It's causing devastation," Lynch said. "We need our legislators to sit down now, understand that they were wrong. It's not a fantasy. It's devastation. It's real. It's humans. It's cops. It's families."