An NYPD cop shot in the leg while trying to arrest a 16-year-old Bronx gang member with a stolen gun was released from the hospital early Wednesday to a round of applause from his brothers in blue.
Dressed in an NYPD jacket, the smiling officer fist bumped fellow officers as a nurse wheeled him out of St. Barnabas Hospital around 1 a.m., video released by the Police Benevolent Association union shows.
When he reached the curb the wounded cop stood up under his own power and limped to an awaiting van to take him home so he can continue his recovery.
“We are extremely fortunate that our @NYPD48Pct brother was able to leave the hospital the same night he was shot while keeping New Yorkers safe,” the union said in its tweet. “Praying for a speedy recovery.”
The officer’s name was not immediately released. He has been with the NYPD four years.
The cop was shot in the leg about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday on Lorillard Place near Third Ave. The officer was assigned to the 48th Precinct as part of a six-person “public safety team,” all in uniform, that approached a disorderly crowd of at least seven people outside the building, cops said.
The 16-year-old was part of that group and refused repeated orders to take his hands out of his pockets, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at a press conference at the hospital Tuesday.
“He began to physically struggle with the officers,” she said.
The teen had a gun, she said. The weapon went off in the struggle, hitting the young gang member in the groin. The bullet then struck the officer in his right leg, she said.
“At no time did any officer fire their weapons,” Sewell said. “Tonight is yet another example of how quickly incidents can escalate and how officers risk their lives to keep our city safe.”
The teen’s gun was a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun, stolen from York County, SC, on Oct. 17, 2020, said Chief of Detectives James Essig said Tuesday.
The teen is a member of the Reyway crew, a subset of the Crips, and was arrested at age 14 in May 2020 with a Taurus firearm, Essig said. He was sentenced to probation in December for possessing that gun, he said.
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