york city. two nypd detectives racing to a suspected armed robbery, then other officers arriving and those detectives were then shot by friendly fire. plain-clothes detective brian simonsen did not survive. a veteran on the force. nypd officers standing in the rain as his body was taken away, paying tribute. here's abc's eva pilgrim tonight on how this all happened. >> reporter: the dispatch call for an armed robbery at this mobile phone store came just after 6:00 p.m. >> male, black, all black clothing. about 5'10", 5'11". the perp took two employees to the back of the store. >> reporter: detective brian simonsen and sergeant matthew gorman, first on the scene, additional police converging moments later. >> shots fired! shots fired! >> shots fired, central. shots fired. >> he's in the store, he's going to the back. >> be advised, i'm shot. >> reporter: officers firing more than 40 shots, wounding the suspect, who police say was carrying a fake gun. but caught in the police crossfire, two of their own. sergeant gorman, hit in the thigh. detective simonsen killed.