Darin Richardson, was shot twice after he pointed a pistol at two detectives and a plainclothes officer who tried to stop him in the street.
Investigators believe the revolver Richardson brandished may have been the same one used in 2005 to wound an officer in Austell, Ga.
That shooting earned Richardson a prominent place on the FBI's "most wanted'' list, but it was a chance meetingthat led to Tuesday night's violence.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said a group of drug investigators on a routine patrol decided to stop Richardson after spotting him emerging from a shop at around 9 p.m., fiddling with something tucked in his belt.
Thinking the bulge was a weapon, they circled around the block, then flashed their badges and ordered Richardson to halt. Two of the officers fired when Richardson pulled a gun and ignored orders to drop it, Browne said.
Several witnesses at the scene confirmed that one or more of the police officers shouted "Put it down! Put it down!'' before opening fire, Browne said.
It wasn't until later that authorities learned that Richardson was wanted in connection with the shooting of a police officer in Georgia's Cobb County.
Cobb County Police said in a news release that Richardson was charged with shooting an officer twice on Aug. 20, 2005, after police tried to question him at a gas station.
The officer was wounded, but survived. Richardson escaped on foot.
Police suspect that the weapon used in that shooting was a revolver reported stolen by one of Richardson's acquaintances on the day of the crime. That same gun was found lying in the street after Richardson was shot in Brooklyn on Tuesday.