2nd man charged with murder in cop's friendly-fire death

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Over the weekend, authorities charged a second suspect with murder in connection with the fatal friendly fire shooting of an NYPD detective.

Police charged Jagger Freeman, 25, with murder, robbery, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon on Saturday. The NYPD is accusing Freeman of being the lookout in a robbery at a T-Mobile store in Queens on Feb. 12.

Several police officers responded to the robbery that evening and confronted Christopher Ransom, 27, who charged at them with what appeared to be a semiautomatic pistol, police said. The officers fired 42 shots at Ransom, wounding him.

But the crossfire also struck Detective Brian Simonsen and Sgt. Matthew Gorman, police said. Simonsen died. Gorman was hit in a leg and is expected to recover.

The NYPD said Ransom's weapon was a fake. Authorities charged him with murder last week.

The funeral for Simonsen is scheduled for Feb. 20.

With the AP