NYPD: Officer Sherrod Stuart shot by friendly fire in Bronx

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton, left, visits wounded officer Sherrod Stuart, 25, a four-year veteran of the NYPD, at Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx. Stuart was shot during exchange of gunfire with a suspect Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, in the South Bronx. Credit: NYPD
A police officer wounded during a shootout in the Bronx early Saturday was injured by a bullet fired by a fellow police officer, an NYPD spokesman said Monday.
The single round that struck the leg of Officer Sherrod Stuart, 25, came from a 9 mm police handgun during the exchange of shots between police and Christopher Rice in front of 188 Lincoln Ave. in the Mott Haven section, said spokesman Stephen Davis.
Stuart, who has been a police officer for four years, was struck once in the tibia of one of his legs and underwent surgery Monday at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, according to Davis.
Earlier reports stated that Stuart was hit in the ankle. The bullet that struck Stuart was recovered after surgery and, while damaged, was traced to a police weapon, Davis explained.
According to police, Stuart was wounded while on plainclothes anti-crime patrol after he and a partner responded to several 911 calls about a large fight involving guns, bats and knives at 2505 Third Ave., around the corner from where the shooting took place.
Rice, of 360 E. 137th St., allegedly fled from Stuart and other officers and then got involved in a gunfight with police on Lincoln Avenue. Rice, 19, was struck four times, including three rounds from Stuart’s gun and once by a bullet fired from the gun of another officer, police said. Rice seemed to be boxed in by police on Lincoln Avenue and caught in a police crossfire, according to Davis.
Rice tried to flee after being wounded but fell to the ground. He was listed in serious condition in Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx and has been charged with an assault on a police officer, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, police said. A .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun was found at the scene of the shooting, according to investigators.

Officer Sherrod Stuart was shot in the ankle on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, while breaking up a melee in the South Bronx, according to the NYPD. Credit: AP
Five additional stabbing victims were also taken to local hospitals as a result of the initial club fight that prompted the 911 calls and police response.
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