Janell Funderburke, 20, indicted in shooting of Suffolk Police Officer Michael LaFauci, records show

The Coram man accused of shooting a Suffolk County police officer during a May 11 robbery investigation has been charged in a 13-count grand jury indictment, court records show.

Janell Funderburke, 20, will be arraigned Thursday on new charges, including first-degree assault and criminal possession of a controlled substance, in addition to the existing top charge of attempted aggravated murder of a police officer, according to the records. Funderburke also faces five new weapons and three more drug charges, the records show.

Funderburke was under investigation for an armed robbery he allegedly committed during a marijuana deal when he shot Officer Michael LaFauci once in the upper thigh, police and prosecutors said at the time.

LaFauci, 27, a six-year member of the department, was working as a plainclothes officer with an anti-gang detail on Norfleet Lane in Coram, officials said. LaFauci clearly identified himself as a police officer as he approached a fleeing Funderburke, who fired a pair of shots at him from a 9 mm handgun, prosecutors said.

Funderburke successfully evaded police after the shooting and waited inside his home, Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney James Slattery said at his arraignment. He left the house 45 minutes after police arrived, having changed his clothes and disposed of the gun, the prosecutor said. Police later recovered the weapon during a search of Funderburke’s home, prosecutors said.

“He had no objective or purpose or intent to kill anyone or cause the death of anyone,” Funderburke’s court-appointed defense attorney, Christopher Cassar of Huntington, said in a phone interview Monday evening. “He’s thankful that the officer is recovering. He prays for the officer and his family.” 

Police had been investigating Funderburke for an armed robbery of two women who attempted to buy marijuana from him May 8. He pulled out a gun on the women and took $160 in cash from them, Slattery said at the previous arraignment. Funderburke has also been charged in the robbery.

After LaFauci was shot, fellow officers applied two tourniquets to the officer's injuries to stop the bleeding and rushed him to Stony Brook University Hospital in a police vehicle, Harrison said.

LaFauci, the father of a 17-month-old daughter, was released from Stony Brook University Hospital on Thursday. 

“Very happy to go home, lucky to be alive,” the officer told reporters as he headed home.

The hollow-point bullet, which expands on impact and is designed to inflict significant damage to tissue and bones, went through LaFauci’s right thigh, crossed through his pelvis to his left buttock, but caused no major damage to arteries and organs, Dr. James Vosswinkel, Stony Brook’s head of trauma surgery and the Suffolk police medical director said at Thursday’s walkout. LaFauci’s right leg remains partially paralyzed, the surgeon said.

Funderburke, whom prosecutors called “an admitted Bloods gang member,” has been held without bail since his initial arraignment. He also has pending drug and weapons charges from April and last August.

Funderburke is facing up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the attempted murder charge.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.