Officials: Police shoot armed off-duty correction officer
New York City police shot and wounded an off-duty correction officer in the Bronx early Saturday morning after he pointed a gun at several officers, police and a Department of Correction spokesman said.
Victor Hernandez, 35, a correction officer at Rikers Island who has worked for the department since 2006, was the man involved in the incident, department spokesman Stephen Morello said. Hernandez was suspended for 30 days without pay in accordance with standard department procedure, Morello said.
Hernandez was authorized to carry a weapon, but the 9-mm Glock pistol that police said they recovered from him at the scene was not issued by the department, Morello said.
Late Saturday afternoon, police charged Hernandez with menacing and reckless endangerment.
The incident played out quickly: The first 911 call came in at 3:44 a.m. and by 3:48 a.m. police were calling for medical assistance after the shooting.
The first caller to 911 reported that an armed man was standing in front of the Club Legends bar on East 161st Street in the Melrose neighborhood, police said. Before uniformed officers arrived, the man, who police said had been in the bar and apparently was intoxicated, fled on foot, heading north on St. Ann's Avenue.
Two unmarked cars from anti-crime units were in the area and responded, police said. At about the same time, they said, another 911 caller reported a man with a gun on the street on St. Ann's Avenue.
A person on the street waved down one of the unmarked cars, and plainclothes officers confronted the man, then 21/2 blocks from the bar, on Third Avenue, police said.
Police showed their shields and identified themselves and told the man to drop his gun, police said. He aimed at the cops and four of them opened fire, hitting him once in the arm, police said.
The man was taken to Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, where he was listed in stable condition.
Police said they were investigating whether there had been a dispute at the bar involving a woman.
Sarra Sounds Off, Season 3, Ep 4: Top football teams in action, fantasy update and plays of the week Gregg Sarra sounds off on the Nassau Conference II football matchup between Calhoun at Carey, plus the comeback story of New Hyde Park's Gabriel Peter, an update on the high school fantasy football standings and the plays of the week.
Sarra Sounds Off, Season 3, Ep 4: Top football teams in action, fantasy update and plays of the week Gregg Sarra sounds off on the Nassau Conference II football matchup between Calhoun at Carey, plus the comeback story of New Hyde Park's Gabriel Peter, an update on the high school fantasy football standings and the plays of the week.
