Cop shot in East Meadow still in hospital

A Nassau County police officer shot in the leg while struggling with a suspect in East Meadow remained in satisfactory condition Monday, officials said.

The officer "is expected to be discharged in the next few days," Shelley Lotenberg, a spokeswoman for Nassau University Medical Center, said.

Nassau County police did not respond Monday to requests for an update into the investigation of the case early Friday in a parking lot in which the suspect, Dwayne Oxley, 41, of East Meadow, was fatally shot by a second officer.

The injured officer, who had approached Oxley in a car because he was acting suspiciously, was struck in the leg by a bullet from his own gun as the suspect grappled with him for the weapon, police said. The suspect was shot at least twice in the upper torso.

A police spokesman has said that the shooting was justified.

Police have not identified either officer.

Oxley, who lived near the scene of the shooting, had served two state prison terms for burglary and robbery-related crimes, and had been scheduled to be in Queens Criminal Court on Tuesday to face burglary charges lodged against him in March, records show.

Oxley's attorney in the Queens case, Russell Rothberg of Lynbrook, said he was shocked to learn of his client's death when he was contacted by Newsday on Monday.

"He said he was not guilty, and this case was going to trial," Rothberg said.