NYS Trooper Thomas Mascia under criminal investigation in Southern State shooting, police say

New York State Trooper Thomas Mascia is under criminal investigation after an internal inquiry into the circumstances of how he was shot and wounded on the Southern State Parkway last week indicates that the shooting "did not occur the way it was reported," state police officials said Wednesday.

State Police Maj. Stephen Udice said the investigation into the conduct of Mascia is "far from over" as investigators continue to piece together what happened last Wednesday night when Mascia reported he was shot by an unknown assailant.

"We still have many questions that require additional information to answer, and we will continue working to answer those questions about this incident," Udice said during a news briefing Wednesday.

Mascia’s attorney Jeffrey Lichtman, of Manhattan, told Newsday Wednesday that his firm was conducting its own investigation into the shooting.

Lichtman said once the law firm's investigation concludes, he may have more to say on behalf of his client, but for now, he declined to comment further.

Mascia was suspended without pay Monday after he was found to be in violation of the department’s rules and regulations, Udice said. The suspension was announced as state police executed a search warrant at the home the trooper shares with his parents in West Hempstead. Police have taken Mascia’s police shield and service weapon as well as off-duty weapons he possessed because of his employment as part of the suspension, Udice said.

He declined to discuss what evidence investigators have gathered.

"I can't get into the specifics of what evidence we have, what was recovered during the search warrant, or what we think may have happened that night," Udice said. "Providing those details at this point could compromise our investigation and our efforts."

Asked if the investigation into the shooting had morphed into a deeper look into other potential criminal activity involving Mascia, Udice said the troopers are "conducting a thorough criminal investigation and a thorough internal administrative investigation."

"That is not going to be limited in any way," Udice said. "We are going to follow where the leads take us."

Udice called the investigation "far-reaching and wide-scale," saying the department has called in specialized units to assist and has also drawn from other agencies. He thanked "federal, state and local" agencies for helping with the investigation.

The major said police are also working with the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office to review evidence as they consider criminal charges.

"I can tell you that … if it is determined that criminal charges are appropriate, then they will be filed," Udice said. "I want to assure everyone that we are conducting this investigation with a level of thoroughness, professionalism and intensity that the public expects from the New York State Police."

He added that Mascia’s employment as a trooper will not impede the investigation.

State police spokesman Beau Duffy said Monday that police were no longer looking for the alleged shooter's vehicle and had canceled a "be on the lookout" advisory to law enforcement for the Dodge Charger.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, in a statement Monday, said the investigation is examining "certain inconsistencies," without providing specifics.

Law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Mascia's Gruber Court home in West Hempstead on Monday and were seen removing scores of potential evidence, including what appeared to be firearms.

Investigators also searched vehicles — a blue sedan, a silver sedan and a blue SUV — parked outside the home, looking in the trunks and under the hoods.

Mascia, 27, was shot in his right leg, near his knee, at about 11:45 p.m. last Wednesday after he said he approached a black car, believed to be a Dodge Charger, that he thought was stranded on the median of the Southern State Parkway in West Hempstead, police have said.

Mascia, a state trooper since 2019, had surgery last Thursday. He was released from Nassau University Medical Center on Friday afternoon amid fanfare. Hundreds of state troopers and Nassau County police officers gathered at the hospital to support him.

"I'm feeling good," Mascia said Friday as he left the hospital.

Mascia described the alleged suspect as a male, driving what was believed to be a black, late-model Dodge Charger with temporary New Jersey tags, rear tinted windows and custom matte gray dual-exhaust tips, police have said.

Mascia told police that he pulled up behind the vehicle and as he approached, he heard several popping noises, police have said.

Police said multiple shots were fired through the vehicle's lowered driver's side window. Mascia was hit with a .22-caliber gunshot in his right quadriceps near his knee, police said. Mascia retreated behind his patrol vehicle as the other vehicle fled west, police said.

Mascia didn't return fire because the suspect immediately fled the scene, police said. The trooper was able to apply a tourniquet to his injured leg and called for assistance, police said.

Mascia's body camera was not activated until he pulled his gun from his holster after realizing he had been shot; therefore, no body camera footage exists of the shooting, police said.

"Shots fired, shots fired, I’m hit," the trooper said, giving his location on the parkway, according to police radio transmissions on Broadcastify.com that Newsday reported following the shooting.

"I’m bleeding pretty good in the leg," the trooper said, while also giving a description of the alleged shooter's vehicle and its temporary tag. "Got a tourniquet on."

Udice would not say if any other individuals are being looked at as part of the investigation into the trooper's actions or any possible cover-up.

"The facts are going to tell a story," the major said. "They're going to lead us in the direction and at the conclusion of this investigation, a determination will be made as to who will be charged. I cannot give you an answer as to who that's going to be limited to at this point."

Udice said the great concern he had for Mascia at the time of the shooting has changed to "disappointment."

"I think it overshadows the outstanding and great work that the members of the state police and the state troopers do each and every day in an attempt to keep the public safe," the major said. "There's a lot of emotion right now."

Asked if the investigation includes a look at a prior self-reported hit-and-run crash Mascia was involved in, Udice said, "We're looking at everything."

"We are looking at a lot," he said. "There's a lot of answers that we are looking for and I just don't have those answers."

Udice would not say if the shooting occurred on the Southern State Parkway or if there was ever another vehicle involved. He reiterated that they are no longer searching for a vehicle or a suspect.

Decades earlier, Mascia’s father, also named Thomas, a former NYPD officer, was fired from the NYPD in 1993 for selling cocaine, newspaper accounts, public and other records show.

A 1993 Newsday article reported the senior Mascia, who was assigned to the 94th Precinct in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, "was dismissed effective Feb. 10, the date he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine."

The article added: "Mascia, of West Hempstead, and four other New York City cops who live on Long Island were arrested by Suffolk County Police in May, 1992, and charged with buying cocaine while on duty and distributing it on Long Island."

Asked about Mascia's father's history as an NYPD officer who was fired from his job decades ago and if family background is part of the hiring process for state police, Udice said, "I'm not going to discuss his family."