Drunken narcotics agent allegedly shoots pals in Upper West Side after tussle over gun

A friend of a state narcotics agent asked if she could handle his gun, and he let her but then demanded it back. During a struggle for the firearm, the gun discharged and a bullet ricocheted off a wall, hitting both of the man's drinking buddies.


BY KERRY BURKE , THOMAS TRACY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Saturday, September 13, 2014, 12:57 AM
Updated: Saturday, September 13, 2014, 2:52 AM

SAM COSTANZA FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Havoc ensued as diners along Amsterdam Ave. took cover while gunshots rang out.

Cops swatted a .40-caliber Glock out of a drunken state narcotics agent’s hand Friday night after he shot two drinking buddies on the Upper West Side, authorities and witnesses said.

Amsterdam Ave. erupted in gunfire and blood-curdling screams just after 9 p.m. when Victor Zambrano Jr., 49, shot a 31-year-old woman in the left foot and the woman’s 42-year-old boyfriend in the right calf during an argument over his weapon, neighbors and police sources said.

The three pals had been drinking together and were walking on Amsterdam Ave. near W. 82nd St. when the woman asked the New York State Bureau of Narcotics enforcement agent for his pistol, a police source said.

Zambrano handed it over, but quickly demanded it back, cop sources said. As the argument became increasingly heated, the agent fired a round. The bullet ricocheted off the concrete and hit both the woman and her boyfriend.

SAM COSTANZA FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A NYPD plainclothes sergeant (left) knocked the gun out of the hand of a state narcotics agent, who was then arrested in front of his Amsterdam Ave. apartment building.

“We do not know if he was shooting at them or just shooting,” a police source said. “Everyone involved is really drunk.”

As diners along Amsterdam Ave.’s restaurant row ducked for cover, the narcotics investigator bolted.

The boyfriend chased after him, and Zambrano allegedly turned to shoot but misfired — causing a live round to fall to the ground as he ran toward W. 83rd St., stunned witnesses aid.

SAM COSTANZA FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
SAM COSTANZA FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Two people were treated near the scene of a double-shooting late Friday.


“(The shooter) was f----- up ... he was drunk,” said one witness, who did not want to be named.

Plainclothes cops surrounded Zambrano outside Bustan on Amsterdam Ave. near W. 84th St., but the suspect wouldn’t give up his gun, which he now was holding under a Yankees jacket.

After a few tense moments, a cop knocked the gun out of Zambrano's hand and tackled him, witnesses said.

SAM COSTANZA FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Two people, who had been drinking in the Upper West Side, were shot after tussling with a narcotics agent over his firearm.
'Everyone involved is really drunk,' a source said.

“They were shouting ‘Drop the gun! Drop the gun!’ but he wouldn’t,” one witness said. “A cop knocked it down and wrestled him the ground.”

It was not entirely clear why the woman wanted Zambrano's gun, but early reports suggested she was concerned about his intoxication level.

Zambrano, who lives in the neighborhood, was taken to the 20th Precinct stationhouse. Charges were pending early Saturday.

SAM COSTANZA FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A pistol is recovered near the scene of a shooting and police confrontation with an armed, drunken narcotics agent.

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