( 4UMF NEWS ) Cop Injured In Shoot Out:
An off-duty NYPD cop was wounded during a shootout with four people Sunday morning in the Bronx.
The unidentified officer was struck in the right leg and back on the 1800 block of Phelan Pl. in Morris Heights and taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he is listed in stable condition, police sources said. He is expected to survive.
The cop, who works in the 33rd precinct in Washington Heights, was returning home from a shift with an NYPD anti-terror initiative exercise, when he was confronted by a group of men, sources said.
One of the men threw a bottle, the cop identified himself, and one of the men shot at him. The cop returned fire, hitting two of the men, sources said. None of the injuries are life-threatening.
The cop, despite being shot once in the shoulder and in the leg, was able to apprehend one of the men.
“He actually collars one guy at the scene,” a police source said.
Four suspects are in custody, sources said, including one man wounded in the gun battle arrested later at Bronx Lebanon Hospital.
Neighbors reported hearing the gun play around 5 a.m.
“It was very fast. I heard 7 to 10 shots,” said Cesar Panchane, 19, who lives in a nearby building. “I thought it was fireworks at first. But they were much louder so I knew they were shots.”
“It’s pretty crazy,” he added. “I can’t believe this. I didn’t know a cop was involved. I thought it would be the gangs.”
