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Questions haunt NY cop’s friendly-fire death

The plainclothes cop was shot when he arrived at a scene where cops had shot and killed a knifewielding Satan worshiper

By Selim Algar and Leonard Greene
New York Post

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — Nassau County cops say they’re baffled as to why a colleague was fatally shot by an officer from another department during mop-up duty at the scene of a police shooting already under control.

Up to 10 minutes had passed Saturday night before shotgun-toting plainclothes cop Geoff Breitkopf arrived at the Massapequa Park, LI, home where officers had shot and killed a knifewielding Satan worshiper.

Officials said an MTA cop saw Breitkopf approach, drew his gun and shot him in the side. It was unclear yesterday whether Breitkopf had anything on identifying him as a cop. The father of two was pronounced dead at Nassau University Medical Center.

“A lot of the guys are just confused . . . It’s not like Geoff was walking into a firefight,” said a fellow member of the elite bureau Breitkopf served.

Officials called the shooting an accident and said the MTA cop, identified by sources as Glenn Gentile, would face neither criminal nor departmental charges.

Nassau cops responding to a 911 call had found Anthony DiGeronimo, 21, waving a knife and barricading himself in a bedroom of his and his parents’ home. They asked him to surrender. Instead, he exited brandishing the knife over his head, and two cops shot him.

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