Female Cop Takes Bullet Stopping Accused Domestic Abuser: NYPD

STATEN ISLAND, NY — A female police officer took a bullet in a Tuesday-morning shootout with an alleged domestic abuser whom cops were trying to arrest on Staten Island, New York City officials said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill praised the unidentified officer, who officials say underwent surgery after the gunshot struck her hand.

"Our officer did everything that she was trained to do, put herself in harm’s way and did an exemplary job," de Blasio, a Democrat, told reporters Tuesday at Richmond University Medical Center, where the cop was treated.

The gunplay erupted after two cops responded to a woman who called to report a past domestic assault shortly before 8:20 a.m., O'Neill said. She spotted her alleged attacker from a police car as she and the officers searched the area for him, the commissioner said.

The cops dropped the woman off about a block away and went after the man, who turned out to have a history of domestic violence and gun crimes, according to O'Neill.

Two more cops arrived and the four officers went to arrest the man on Prince Street near Mickardan Court in the Clifton neighborhood, where the alleged attacker "violently resisted" the police, O'Neill said.

A struggle ensued in which a cop shot the man in the back with a Taser and he pulled out a gun, according to the commissioner. He fired two shots after the cops grabbed his arm and pulled the muzzle away from everyone at the scene, O'Neill said.

One officer then fired three shots at the man, hitting him, the commissioner said. The female cop was struck in her left hand, while the man — who had previously served five years in prison for a shooting — was pronounced dead and his gun was recovered from the scene, O'Neill said.

Both O'Neill and de Blasio said the officers showed heroism in responding to the kind of call that NYPD cops handle thousands of times a year. The mayor also said the wounded cop, who joined the police force in 2016, "exemplifies the American dream" — she set her heart on becoming an officer after coming to the U.S. with her immigrant family as a young girl, according to the mayor.

"She has applied herself with all her heart to this work, protecting others," de Blasio said.