NYPD officer shot in leg after exchange of gunfire during Queens robbery, suspect dead, police say
A photo of the weapon on display at a news conference that police said robbery suspect Gary Worthy used to shoot and injure an NYPD officer who returned fire, killing the man. Credit: Jeff Bachner
An NYPD officer shot and killed a robbery suspect Tuesday in Queens who had just shot him during a gunfight that also left a bystander wounded by a stray bullet, according to the NYPD's chief of detectives.
The officer, Rich Wong, 36, was released from Jamaica Hospital Meedical center on Wednesday. The bystander, a 26-year-old woman, whose name was not released, were expected to recover, the NYPD said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams visited both the bystander and the officer at the hospital.
"His spirits are high," Adams said of Wong at a news conference late Tuesday at the hospital, where he was joined by other city and NYPD officials.
"His mom was in the room," Adams added.
Wong was shot in the leg, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
The officer's hometown was not immediately released.
Wong had responded with his partner to a 911 call around 5:35 p.m. reporting a gunpoint robbery at a bodega on Hillside Avenue at which the suspect had opened fire, Kenny said.
He identified the dead suspect as Gary Worthy, 57, a lifetime parolee with a manslaughter conviction who was also wanted for robbery.
Kenny described how the officers had been searching the area and, at 6:24 p.m., a witness pointed out a man nearby and told them the suspect had just robbed a smoke shop and fired a shot. The officers determined the man matched the description of the suspect in the bodega robbery, asked him to stop and when he didn't, chased after him. The suspect fired a shot that hit Wong, who returned fire, shooting Worthy in the face, Kenny said.
"It’s only through the grace of God that we’re not having a different conversation right now," Interim Police Commissioner Tom Donlon said.
It remained unclear who shot the bystander, according to Carlos Nieves, an NYPD spokesman.
"Yet again a violent criminal with absolutely no regard for human life decided to open fire on an NYPD police officer in the middle of a busy New York City street," Donlon said. "This extreme recklessness resulted in injuries to our officer and cost the suspect his life."
With Anthony M. DeStefano
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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