Rich Wong, NYPD officer wounded in Queens gunfight, released from hospital

The NYPD officer who was wounded Tuesday in Queens during a deadly gunfight with a suspected robber was discharged Wednesday from the hospital.

The officer, Rich Wong, 36, was pushed in a wheelchair out of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center to applause from fellow officers, several of whom then helped him into a waiting van.

The suspected robber, Gary Worthy, 57, of Queens, died after Wong returned fire and struck him in the face, police said.

Also wounded in Tuesday's shootout was a 26-year-old bystander. An update on her condition wasn’t provided Wednesday, but Carlos Nieves, an NYPD spokesman, said Tuesday evening at the hospital that she too was expected to be discharged from the hospital Wednesday.

Nieves said it’s not yet known whether she was struck by the cop’s gunfire or the suspected robber’s.

Mayor Eric Adams visited both Wong and the bystander at the hospital. Her name wasn't disclosed, and police have not named Wong's hometown.

The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when Wong and his partner were dispatched to look for a man who had robbed a bodega in the Jamaica section of Queens. After a witness pointed to a man as having committed a robbery of a smokeshop, the officers saw he matched the description of the bodega robbery and confronted him, officials said. He fled and opened fire, striking Wong in the leg, according to police, before Wong returned fire.

Worthy, who was on lifetime parole and had done prison time for manslaughter, was wanted for previous robberies. He had fired his gun in each of the robberies earlier Tuesday, police said.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.