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Report: Man says friendly fire shooting of NYPD officer stemmed from ‘prank’

A man charged in the friendly fire death of a New York City police officer says the shooting stemmed from a "prank gone horribly wrong."

Headlines of the New York Daily News and the New York Post on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, report on the death of NYPD Detective Brian Simonsen by friendly fire during a previous day's robbery of a T-Mobile store in Richmond Hill, Queens. The suspect jailed for murder in Simonsen's death said it was a prank gone wrong. (Richard B. Levine / Sipa USA / TNS)
Headlines of the New York Daily News and the New York Post on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, report on the death of NYPD Detective Brian Simonsen by friendly fire during a previous day's robbery of a T-Mobile store in Richmond Hill, Queens. The suspect jailed for murder in Simonsen's death said it was a prank gone wrong. (Richard B. Levine / Sipa USA / TNS)Read moreSipa USA/TNS
    by The Associated Press, The Associated Press
    Published 

NEW YORK (AP) — A man charged in the friendly fire death of a New York City police officer says the shooting stemmed from a "prank gone horribly wrong."

Christopher Ransom told the New York Daily News in an interview published Friday that he only meant to carry out a phony holdup of a T-Mobile store in Queens.

He said that he carried a fake gun and that a friend videotaped the stunt.

Ransom said he returned the workers’ money but police were already responding and opened fire. The shooting claimed the life of Detective Brian Simonsen and wounded Sgt. Matthew Gorman.

He told the newspaper that he was not a "monster" and that he didn't anticipate what happened.

Ransom faces murder and other charges in Simonsen's death.