Girlfriend Tried Desperately to Stop Man from Killing Cop

Alexander Bonds, an ex-con who had gotten out of prison in 2013 on parole, had been acting erratically for two weeks. His girlfriend noticed that whenever he'd see an ambulance or cop car, he'd hide. On Saturday, she took him to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he stayed seven or eight hours, and then was released.

At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, the girlfriend accompanied Bonds out of his apartment onto Westchester Avenue in the South Bronx.

This night, she really sensed something bad was about to happen. As they walked, the girlfriend fell back and called 911. She told the operator her boyfriend was paranoid and needed help. She did not say that he had a gun. Perhaps she didn't know. The police later said he was packing a 38-caliber Ruger revolver stolen five years ago in Charleston, West Virginia.

This account, relayed by the NYPD Thursday, is largely based on their interviews with the girlfriend. They would not identify her, and WNYC was not able to locate her to corroborate the police's version of her story.

While she was still on the phone, Bonds spotted a police cruiser and emergency vehicle heading toward him — they were dispatched by the 911 operator to find him — so he did what he'd done before: ducked into the shadows until they were gone. After 30 minutes of cat-and-mouse, Bonds hailed a cab outside a Rite Aid. His girlfriend hung up and hopped in with him.

After some time, he ended the cab ride in a part of the Bronx she didn't recognize. Soon after, he eluded her too, hopped into another cab, and wound up in Fordham Heights. There, he acted on a long-standing animus toward the NYPD and, police say, killed Officer Miosotis Familia with one well-aimed shot from the revolver.

The official police account says Bonds shot once more, minutes later, at two officers who confronted him nearby on Morris Avenue. They returned fire and killed him.

Officer Familia was sitting in a command post vehicle when she was killed by a shot fired through one of the closed windows. On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD announced they're adding $1.3 million to a program that is installing bulletproof glass and bullet-resistant door panels on 3,800 patrol cars. The extra funds added today are expected to extend the program toward fitting out command post vehicles, like the one that held Familia, as well as police buses.

NYPD Commisioner James P. O'Neill said the upgrades might not stop there. "As we learn more from the senseless murder of Police Officer Familia, we will continue to look at any additional measures the department can take to protect those who protect us.” He then contended that a lack of technology was not ultimately responsible for her death. "Make no mistake about it," he said. "Officer Familia is dead because of one reason and one reason only. That's Alexander Bonds and his hatred of the police."

Residents continued to mourn in the neighborhood where Familia died. Men hanging out at a local barbershop said Familia was "a good person" who always greeted them in Spanish and used to feed a neighborhood cat. And a woman who gave her name as Candy said thought of the shooting still brought her and her neighbors to tears. The superintendent of a nearby by building and a bodega worker say police have been viewing video footage from their cameras.

Also on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he had ordered the state health department to review whether St. Barnabas Hospital had followed proper procedures. A spokesman for the hospital said it believed it had.

Additional reporting by Cindy Rodriguez.