The drugged-up man who jumped into 42nd Street-Eighth Avenue traffic and waved an imaginaꦺry gun at police officers — leading them to accidentally shoot and wound two passers-by — was on a “suicide-by-cop” mission, law-enforcement sources said Sunday.
When coke-snorting career criminal Glenn Broadnax, 35♑, simulated pointing a gun at cops with his finger outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, he was daring the officers to 🌟fire, the sources said.
“Sometimes when they do that, go into their pockets like that, they want to die. They want you to shoot them,” a source said. “You have that split ▨second to decide, and if you’re wrong . . . 🌸, if they have a gun and you don’t think they do, they can blast you away.”
Another source added, “It appears to be a 🐎suici🅘de-by-cop [attempt].”
Broad𒈔nax told cops after his arrest, “I was on a mission to kill myself,’’ a third source sa🐲id.
But some local re🌄sidents questioned whether the cops shoul𒐪d have fired, given the heavily trafficked area.
“It was excessive force. I was shocked to hear the shots, and when I heard why, I was upset,’’ said Todd Noel, 25, who lives in the neighborhood. “Nobody’s life was in danger. It’s r💜id⛄iculous for them to go for the deadly weapon. It’s especially dangerous in this type of area.”
Resident Jen Brown, 31, added, “I just said to my💮 roommate, ‘I’m not going to take 42nd Street because I don’t want to get shot by someone who can’t aim.’ ”
The two officers who fired a total of three shots have been assigned to desk duty, a routine move pending a probe by thꦚe Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
One of the officers has 1¹/₂ years onಌ the job, while the other has three.
According 𒀰to NYPD protocol, an instance in which an officer can fire his weapon is if he feels his life is in danger.
Broadnax was not hit by the bullets but was eventually brought down by a taser fired by NYPD Sgt. Eric Perez, the sources sa🍬id.
Theodora Ray, 54, took a bullet in her ꧅leg — breaking two bones in her calf — as she stood leaning on her four-wheeled walker across from the bus terminal. She remained hospitalized at Bellevue on Sunday.
Sahara🎃 Khoshakhlagh, 35, was grazed in her buttocks. She was treated at Roosevelt Hospital before being released early Sunda✱y.
“We’ve decided we’re not going to share our story wit🃏h the media,” Khoshakhlagh’s husband said at the couple’s Upper East Side apartment.
Broadnax was charged with menaꦐcing, obstructing governmental administration, riot, criminal possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and disorderly conduc♎t.
He was taken to Bell💝evue Hospital for evaluation and then to the precinct station house before his arraignment hearing.
Broadn🍨ax is no stranger to cops, with at least 23 prior arrests, according to law-enforcement sources.
He’s also done two prison stints, including for attempted robbery, one in 1998 and the other in 200🍃9.
Additional reporting by David K. Li