NYPD officer from Islip injured in shootout

After spending the night in the hospital with her husband, Ricardo Ramirez - a New York City police officer seriously wounded in a Brooklyn gun battle - Ana Ramirez was back at the couple's Islip home Monday, shaken but thankful that her high school sweetheart will soon follow.

Ricardo Ramirez, 29, was in a police vehicle on patrol with other officers at about 8 p.m. Sunday night in the East New York section of Brooklyn when they chased and got into a shootout with a 17-year-old suspect from Port Washington, officials said.

Ramirez, a graduate of Brentwood High School and a four-year member of the NYPD, was struck once in his protective vest by a bullet headed for his lower right abdomen, said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne. Two rounds struck Ramirez in his upper right leg, injuring his femoral artery, Browne said.

Monday, Ana Ramirez credited the protective vest but also the quick work by her husband's fellow officers for saving his life after a bullet pierced his leg artery. They used first-aid techniques to slow the bleeding until an emergency crew arrived, she said. "He lost a lot of blood," Ana Ramirez said. "The doctor said if his friend didn't tie that off, he wouldn't have made it to the hospital."

The teenager accused of shooting Ricardo Ramirez, Elijah Foster-Bey, was at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn being treated for four gunshot wounds to the leg, police officials said.

The teenager faces charges of attempted murder and criminal use of a weapon.

Police said Foster-Bey jumped off a bicycle and ran away when officers asked what he was doing in the area, Browne said. The blocks around 454 Bradford St. had seen four robberies and four shootings in recent weeks, so police were conducting heightened patrols there, Browne said.

The appearance of the anti-crime patrol apparently frightened Foster-Bey, police said.

" 'I was running away because I had a gun. I was trying to get to the roof,' " Foster-Bey later told police, according to Browne.

Inside the building, with Ramirez and his partners in pursuit, Foster-Bey began firing when he reached the third floor and hit Ramirez, Browne said. The officers, including Ramirez, fired 11 times at Foster-Bey, Browne said.

Still, her husband was exactly where he wanted to be Sunday night, Ana Ramirez said.

"He always wanted to be a police officer," she said. "He started out as a Brentwood Fire Department volunteer and met a lot of cops there."

Talking with them made him want to be a police officer even more, she said.

The couple married three years ago. They were sweethearts at Brentwood High School and graduated together in 2000.

During his years as a police officer, Ricardo Ramirez had never been seriously injured, Ana Ramirez said. He told her he's concerned his injuries may keep him from the job he loves.

"He's worried about the leg," she said. "They're afraid he might have nerve damage - need a cane. They don't know yet."

With Chau Lam