Off-duty NYPD cop shot in Bronx

An off-duty NYPD officer trying to stop a Bronx robbery was shot in the chest Wednesday, but with his hand pressed against his wound, he fatally shot one of three suspects trying to get away, New York City officials said.

Ivan Marcano, 27, a five-year NYPD officer from the Bronx, was "bright eyed" at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Wednesday night and is expected to survive his chest wound as police mounted a hunt for the two other suspects, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters.

The officer was in a car driven by his girlfriend when she noticed two men robbing someone on Harrison Avenue at 6:30 p.m., Kelly said. The two gunmen hit their victim in the head with a gun and stole $80, he said.

After telling his girlfriend to call 911, Marcano went up to the robber, took out his shield and gun and identified himself as a police officer, police said.

"Right after he identified himself, they shot him," Kelly said. "We are obviously looking aggressively for two individuals," he said.

Marcano took cover back at his car, and as his girlfriend tried to get him to a hospital fast, she pressed her horn and a block from the robbery, some cars ahead of her had an accident, Kelly said.

A white Mustang immediately in front of her had lurched forward, hitting a livery car and a parked car before "careening onto the sidewalk," the police commissioner said.

Three men came out of the Mustang, and Marcano recognized them as the robbers, police said.

He took cover behind a livery cab, yelled to passersby to "get down," then fired at the suspects, Kelly said.

"He moved a second time, still holding a hand over his wound, to the west side of Harrison Avenue, where he took cover behind a parked car and fired another round at the suspects," Kelly said. "In a remarkable display of marksmanship and cool under fire, Officer Marcano fired, striking one of the suspects in the head. He died on the sidewalk next to the Mustang.

"The suspect's two accomplices split up, fleeing east and west on Burnside Avenue. Officer Marcano followed one of them onto Burnside Avenue, still clutching his bleeding chest wound. In a great stroke of fortune, Officer Marcano encountered an ambulance that happened to be parked on Burnside Avenue near Harrison. Officer Marcano climbed in and was transported here to Bronx-Lebanon hospital," Kelly said.

A 380-caliber semiautomatic was recovered at the scene, Kelly said. The suspect killed has not been identified, he said.

The round grazed Marcano's left arm, entered the left side of his chest, narrowly missed his heart, exited and re-entered the right side, where it ricocheted and fractured one of his ribs, police said. The bullet was lodged in the right side of his chest and Marcano had not undergone an operation by the time of the news conference, officials said.

"He's a very lucky guy and he knows it," said Bloomberg.

Marcano was the 12th NYPD cop shot this year, officials said.

-- With Bill Mason