Family, Friends Remember Man Fatally Shot by Cops in Bronx

A memorial for Kyle Lockett who was shot by police during a shootout in the Bronx.

By David Greene 

Bronx Voice 

November 22, 2022

BRONX - A popular young man died a short distance from his childhood home after police intervened in a violent dispute between two men in Norwood.

According to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig, the dispute began inside a bodega located at 330 East Gun Hill Road, at 11:30 a.m. on, November 3, when members of the Queens Warrants Squad were in an unmarked police vehicle, in the area on an unrelated matter.

At a press conference shortly after the shooting, Essig stated, "A white Lexus pulls up at the southeast corner of Hull Avenue and East Gun Hill Road. He entered the bodega when he engaged in a violent struggle with a 21-year-old male.”

Essig stated that the 29-year-old male entered the deli and began stabbing the 21-year-old before fleeing to his vehicle, when the 21-year-old man fired at the fleeing man when he was confronted by police who fired "numerous times.”

The 21-year-old male was rushed to Jacobi Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. The 29-year-old man fled the scene, but was located a short distance away and suffered a graze wound to the head. He was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

Family and friends of the deceased, later identified as Kyle Lockett, 21, of Kingsbridge, packed the Granby's Funeral home on White Plains Road for his funeral service on November 11.

Longtime Norwood resident Jessica Lugo, who had known Lockett, said he had attended P.S. 94 and M.S. 20 and was an aspiring rapper. Lugo told the Bronx Voice, "Growing up he was always a good kid. He was well adjusted, playing in the park with his friend's. They all grew up together.”

A GoFundMe page was set up to help Lockett's family cover the cost of the funeral and has so far raised over $4,000 of the $10,000 friend's hope to raise.

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old male, identified as Ajamu Demmerle is facing attempted murder and other charges.

The incident is currently being investigated by the NYPD's Force Investigation Squad as well as The New York Attorney General's Office of Special Investigations.