NY’S TOUGHEST
Shot NYPD cop out of hosp after heroic Bx. bust
An NYPD cop was shot and wounded in a gunfight in The Bronx early Tuesday, and still ran after the alleged teenage gunman before being hauled by his partner to the hospital, authorities said.
Officer Paul Lee, a three-year veteran, was the first cop shot in the line of duty this year and was released from the hospital later Tuesday to applause from fellow members of New York’s Finest.
Lee, a member of the 48th Precinct’s public-safety team, was in an unmarked police car at around 3 a.m. when he and his partner spotted two men in black face masks at East 183rd Street and Prospect Avenue and pulled up to them.
The two started to run, but then one of them turned and opened fire at the cops, police sources said.
“As [the officers] pull up, at least one male fires at least six times, striking the windshield and our officer who was seated in the passenger seat,” NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said during a briefing.
Lee was shot in the left arm, “narrowly missing vital structures,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell told reporters.
The cops returned fire, and Lee began to run after the suspects before his partner pulled him back into the car and brought him to St. Barnabas Hospital.
An armed 16-yearold boy was busted nearby by other 48th Precinct cops “after a brief foot pursuit,” Essig said. He was later charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
The teen is not a suspected gang member, but was arrested in April, also for criminal possession of a weapon, according to sources.
Video shows a suspect in custody at the scene as one cop can be heard saying, “Bring him over here. I want to look him in the face. Yeah, that’s the motherf--ker. Yeah, motherf--ker, we got you! We got you!”
A .32-caliber weapon was recovered from the teen, according to the commissioner.
Cops were still looking for the teen’s alleged accomplice, a man who was dressed in black and was wearing a ski mask.
Dozens of officers salute
Lee was released from the hospital several hours after the shooting, receiving a traditional NYPD “walkout” salute from dozens of fellow officers.
The wounded cop was wheeled out by his partner, Antonio Martinez, as about 75 cops lined the way.
“What we just saw was a police officer pushed out of this hospital by his heroic partner,” Patrick Lynch, president of the NYPD Police Benevolent Association said outside.
“What we saw when we watch that body-worn camera and videos from shops, is a police officer realizing they were shot, still running
towards the danger — running after the person that shot them.”
Deputy Inspector Joseph Deleon of the 48th Precinct said the intersection where Lee was shot is known as a problematic spot.
“That location we have had specific incidents with robberies, with gang activity, so they are heavily deployed into that location,” Deleon said. “They’ve arrested many people with firearms at that location.”
He said Lee and Martinez “did their jobs to the fullest.”
Authorities said a second shooting took place right near where Lee was wounded and just seconds after — although it’s unclear if the two incidents were linked.
Two .380 shell casings were recovered at that scene on East 183rd Street and a suspected gunman who fled in a car was being sought, authorities said.
“Let me be clear, we will stop at nothing to ensure that the subjects involved in this shooting and the people who drive violence in this city will be brought to justice,” Sewell said.