Staten Island, NY – The man who shot and wounded a firefighter after setting his home ablaze in a standoff with New York authorities is dead, police said on Friday.
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He died after barricading himself for six hours in his Staten Island home, which he torched to thwart authorities trying to arrest him at 5:45 a.m. for a federal parole violation, police said.
The firefighter was shot twice and wounded by the man, who used an assault rifle, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
Bratton identified the man as Tyree Garland, 38, but he was identified in court records as Garland Tyree, also known as “S.I.”
On Facebook, a man named Garland Tyree from Staten Island wrote “Today I die” on his profile early Friday morning. Friends responded with questions and concern. “They kicked in my door and it popped off,” Tyree wrote.
Bratton said during the initial encounter at least four shots were fired at authorities attempting to serve the warrant on Garland, who he said has a long criminal history with at least 18 prior arrests.
Authorities entered the apartment early Friday morning to find it filled with smoke, Bratton said.
“FDNY responded to the fire. The suspect fired a gun. One of the FDNY members was struck twice,” said NYPD Sergeant Vincent Marchese.
The 54-year-old fire lieutenant was shot in the buttocks and left calf after crawling into the apartment beneath smoke to look for Tyree, New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a press conference on Friday.
He was in serious but stable condition at a local hospital, police said.
“This instance was, until the lieutenant was shot, was not a known active shooter event,” Nigro said.
In July 2013, Tyree was ordered to serve more time in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release by allegedly using cocaine and associating with known gang members, according to a court document that details his alleged involvement in the Bloods street gang.
Bratton said he was again released from prison in July 2014.
The government here is responsible for the death of Tyree Garland and the suffering it cost to his family and friends. Why? If the government here were truly civilized they would observe ‘The 7 Noahide Laws’ and institute a zero tolerance policy towards gangs. This would TERRIFY (Remember ‘Hiroshima & Nagasaki?’ Remember the efforts into building ‘The Panama Canal’ — disease and death, only bec. of business.) gang members and potential gang members stopping them from committing crimes or joining such a group. The government cares little for the welfare of its citizens. Their main concern is money-making: build more prisons, hire more cops, etc. A sick joke.