NEW YORK _ Police patrols were searching for Alexander Bonds two hours late Tuesday before the ex-convict fatally shot an NYPD officer, but he eluded them by ducking into doorways whenever he saw a cruiser, police officials said Thursday.
The search was triggered when Bonds' girlfriend alerted police to his erratic behavior in a 911 call some 2 { hours before he shot NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia, 48, early Wednesday morning. But the girlfriend told the emergency operator he was not armed, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told reporters after a swearing-in ceremony for new police recruits.
"Each time they would pass by, Mr. Bonds would duck out of sight," Boyce said, adding they then tried a park he might be at but were unable to find him.
The girlfriend _ whom police did not identify _ was with Bonds but then left him to go back to his apartment while he continued on his way, Boyce said. Cops did keep a patrol on the street looking for Bonds but didn't find him, Boyce added.
On July 1, Bonds went to St. Barnabas Hospital for treatment for a psychological problem, officials revealed.
Hours after the shooting, police found several bottles of antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs at Bonds' apartment as well as six cellphones and a tablet, which are being analyzed, authorities said.
Just weeks before he shot Familia, Bonds was also visited by a parole officer _ he had been on parole for an armed robbery in Syracuse since 2013 after serving eight years in prison, officials said. The parole officer went to his apartment at 6:20 a.m. on June 15, Boyce said.
Police officials also said Bonds fired two shots from his revolver, once at officer Familia and once at the officers who responded and confronted him.
Boyce said investigators were also looking into a possible incident a few years ago in which Bonds may have assaulted a police officer with brass knuckles in Queens with other people. The court records on the case have been sealed, however.
The deadly shooting also brought new attention to the effort to bulletproof NYPD vehicles. While the initial plan did not include fixed posts, like a mobile command unit, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said the department was "taking a look at all of our fixed posts now."
"Anytime there's a tragedy we always talk about learning from that tragedy," O'Neill said, adding: "Just make no mistake about it, Officer Familia is dead because of one reason and one reason only: that's Alexander Bonds and his hatred of the police. We all came on this job to do good and make a difference, but there's an inherent risk in what we do."
The initial program was focused on patrol vehicles and planned to retrofit 3,800 vehicles with ballistic panels, which was then expanded to include the bulletproof glass, said Robert Martinez, the deputy commissioner of the Support Services Bureau.
Currently, the department has outfitted about 2,200 vehicles with the ballistic panels, he said. The department expects to complete all 3,800 by the end of the year.
Officials said Bonds' hatred for cops drove him to assassinate Familia in the Bronx with a stolen handgun early Wednesday as she sat in a police command vehicle on anti-gang detail.
Police officials said Familia, a 12-year veteran and mother of three, was targeted in "an unprovoked attack on police officers who were assigned to keep the people safe."
The fallen officer's partner in the vehicle frantically put out a radio call for help before other anti-crime cops in the area responded. They confronted Bonds, 34, of the Bronx, as he ran on Morris Avenue, police said, and officers shot and killed him after he drew his handgun.
"She was on duty serving this city, protecting people, doing what she believed in, and doing the job she loved," Mayor Bill de Blasio said of Familia, who lived in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx and worked out of the 46th Precinct.
A male bystander was shot in the abdomen during the officers' confrontation with Bonds and was in stable condition at Lincoln Medical Center, an NYPD spokesman said.
Familia, wearing her department uniform, was sitting in the passenger seat of the police van parked in Fordham Heights at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, officials said. Bonds walked up to the vehicle with a .38-caliber handgun and fired one shot through the side window, striking her in the face.
Familia was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where she died, police said. The Ruger handgun police believe Bonds used to kill Familia was recovered. Investigators said the weapon was stolen in West Virginia in 2013.
