NYPD Officer Hart Nguyen leaves hospital day after being shot
NYPD Officer Hart Nguyen of the 75th Precinct leaves Jamaica Hospital Medical Center on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017 a day after being shot by a gunman in a Brooklyn home. Credit: John Roca
To applause, cheers and warm wishes from his fellow officers, NYPD cop Hart Nguyen was discharged from Jamaica Hospital Medical Center on Friday afternoon, just one day after he was shot and wounded by an apparently suicidal man in Brooklyn late Thursday.
Nguyen was wounded in the right forearm and was spared possibly fatal injury by his protective vest that absorbed some of the shots fired by Andy Soodkea who was hiding in a room inside the home where he lived with his parents, police said. Nguyen, 30, joined the force in 2015 and lives in Brooklyn,
“This young man was saved by his vest, it made all of the difference here,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday night at the hospital.
Nguyen walked out of the hospital about 4 p.m. and was assisted by fellow officers into a black police van for the ride to his home.
Nguyen and his partner went to the apartment at 149 Ridgewood Ave. in Cypress Hills around 4:35 p.m. after police got a 911 call about an emotionally disturbed man at the location. Police entered the two-story building thinking that Soodkea wasn’t dangerous but he fired at the officers numerous times as they approached a rear bedroom.
Officers didn’t return fire and Soodkea was later found dead from a self-inflicted wound to his head, police said. Investigators found two handguns as well as ammunition near his body.
Nguyen, who is assigned to the nearby 75th Precinct, is married and has a son. NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill on Thursday said that while the injuries to Nguyen weren’t life threatening his recovery was “going to take a while.”
The shooting of Nguyen came just five weeks after shots killed Officer Miosotis Familia, 48, as she sat in a police van in the Bronx. Her killer, an emotionally disturbed man named Alexander Bonds, was shot dead by other officers as he ran from the scene.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
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Newsday Live Music Series: Long Island Idols Newsday Live presents a special evening of music and conversation with local singers who grabbed the national spotlight on shows like "The Voice," "America's Got Talent,""The X-Factor" and "American Idol." Newsday Senior Lifestyle Host Elisa DiStefano leads a discussion and audience Q&A as the singers discuss their TV experiences, careers and perform original songs.
