NYPD Says ‘No Criminality’ After Officers Suspected of Being Poisoned by Shake Shack Milkshakes

The New York Police Department said “no criminality” had occurred after three of its officers were hospitalized after drinking milkshakes suspected of being laced with bleach at a lower Manhattan Shake Shack.

“After a thorough investigation by the NYPD’s Manhattan South investigators, it has been determined that there was no criminality by Shake Shack’s employees,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison said in a statement on Twitter.

The Shake Shack burger chain said it is “horrified” and is working with NYPD to “get the full picture.”

It appears the machine used to make the milkshakes was incorrectly cleaned and residue from bleach or another cleaning agent was left inside, PIX 11 reports.

All three officers have since been released from the hospital.

Before the NYPD completed the investigation, police unions claimed the poisoning was an attack on officers.

“Tonight, three of our fellow officers were intentionally poisoned by one or more workers at the Shake Shack at 200 Broadway in Manhattan,” the Detectives' Endowment Association, a labor union representing 20,000 active duty and retired New York City Detectives said on Twitter.

"Police in New York City and across the country are under attack by vicious criminals who dislike us simply because of the uniform we wear," DEA President Paul DiGiacomo said in a statement. "Emboldened by pandering elected officials, these cowards will go to great lengths to harm any member of law enforcement."

The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, which represents about 24,000 New York police officers also claimed it was an attack.

“When NYC police officers cannot even take [a] meal without coming under attack, it is clear that [the] environment in which we work has deteriorated to a critical level. We cannot afford to let our guard down for even a moment,” the group Tweeted before the investigation was completed.

The incident comes amid worldwide calls against police brutality over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.