1 Officer Dead, 8 Injured in NYPD Van Crash

One police officer died and eight others were injured after an NYPD vehicle crash early Sunday in the Bronx, authorities said.

Michael Williams, 25, was ejected from the rear of a police van when it crashed in Hunts Point, authorities said. Williams had been on the force for less than a year.

He and eight other officers from the 47th Precinct in the Bronx had been on their way into Manhattan to staff a demonstration at the United Nations and the People's Climate March. The van was not engaged in a pursuit, and no other vehicles were involved in the crash, police said.

One witness, William Soto, said that in the aftermath of the crash he saw another officer's head bleeding. He looked "like he was trying to gasp for air," Soto said.

The eight officers who were injured are all expected to recover, authorities said.

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