Police officials on Wednesday provided more details of how an armed robbery in Queens unfolded the night before, describing a chaotic scene with 42 shots fired in 11 seconds. One bullet fatally hit veteran Detective Brian Simonsen. 

With an anguished face, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said Simonsen was a 19-year veteran of the department, with all of those years served in the 102nd precinct in central Queens.

"It wasn't just the cops that knew Brian well, it was the community," Monahan said. "The store owners, the building owners, the superintendents. Everyone knew Brian. Everyone knew Brian was the cop that you reached out to if there was a problem that needed to be handled."

Monahan said that Simonsen was not supposed to be working Tuesday night, as he was relieved of his duties to attend a union event. But Simonsen made a decision to work anyway, and was at the station house processing a robbery arrest when a 911 call came through about another robbery — this one at a T-Mobile cell phone story in Richmond Hill.

According to Monahan and Deputy Chief Kevin Maloney, who both recounted events of that evening, Simonsen and his partner Sergeant Matthew Gorman responded to the call. Six other officers also responded. Simonsen and Gorman were in plain clothes; the other six officers were uniformed. 

All eight officers arrived at the store at about the same time. Gorman and two uniformed officers entered and then quickly retreated after the suspect, now identified as Christopher Ransom, pointed his gun and charged at them. Police would later learn the gun was an imitation. But none of the officers who were on the scene knew that at the time. 

With all eight officers back outside, they split up on either side of the store's entrance. From the time that officers arrived to that moment, only about 40 seconds had passed. Seven of the eight officers fired their guns, discharging 42 bullets. 

Simonsen was not wearing a protective vest per department protocol, which applies even for officers in plain clothes. He was shot once in the chest and died.

Gorman, who was also not wearing a vest, was shot in the leg and is recovering. 

Monahan said officers are trained to avoid crossfire, but these moments erupt quickly.

"Everything happens in a second," Monahan said. "You're reacting within seconds, and you're in fear for your life. Your adrenaline is high. We try our best to train. We'll continue to train. It's our job to try and keep our officers safe."

Ransom was also shot and is recovering. He was arrested and on Wednesday presented with charges of second-degree murder, two counts of robbery, assault, aggravated manslaughter and menacing.