25-year-old NYPD officer Michael Williams died early Sunday morning after the van he was in ran into a median in Hunts Point. “The van appeared to have sideswiped the divide for a block starting at Longfellow Avenue until coming to a stop near Bryant Avenue,” the New York Daily News reports. The vehicle had been carrying a group of 47th Precinct cops to Manhattan to work at the People’s Climate Change March and the United Nations.
According to the Daily News, Williams, who was seated in the back of the van, was ejected during the crash. He was pronounced dead at Lincoln Medical Center. Meanwhile, eight of his colleagues were hurt. They were taken to three area hospitals with what were described as serious but non-life-threatening injuries. “[The driver] was bleeding from his head and his chest was pumping like he was gasping for air,” said a witness. No other cars were involved in the accident, which is now under investigation.