Nassau cop shot in struggle leaves hospital

Bagpipers and applause from fellow officers greeted an injured Nassau County police officer Tuesday morning as he left the hospital where he had been recovering from a gunshot wound suffered last week in a struggle with a suspect.

A Nassau police helicopter hovered nearby as the officer, shot in the leg in an East Meadow parking lot Friday morning, was wheeled out on a gurney and moved into the back of an ambulance. Escorted by three patrol cars with lights flashing, the ambulance took the officer home from Nassau University Medical Center.

The officer was shot while struggling with Dwayne Oxley, 41, of East Meadow, who was then fatally shot by a second officer, police said. Police have not identified either officer.

Officials said the wounded officer had first approached Oxley as the suspect sat in a sport utility vehicle. The officer asked Oxley to get out. Oxley did but when the second officer arrived, he ran back to his vehicle and locked the doors.

The officers managed to pull Oxley from the SUV before he grappled with the first officer for his service gun, which fired several times, police said. The officer was struck in the leg, police said.

The second officer shot the suspect at least twice in the upper torso.

A police spokesman has said that the shooting was justified.

Oxley, who lived near the scene of the shooting, served two state prison terms for burglary and robbery-related crimes, and had been scheduled to be in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday to face burglary charges lodged against him in March, records show.

With William Murphy