Shot Suffolk Police Officer Expected To Stay In Hospital Over Next Few Days: PBA

STONY BROOK, NY — The Suffolk police officer shot by a robbery suspect is expected to remain hospitalized — possibly up to a week — as he recovers from bullet wounds that left significant damage, Suffolk Police Benevolent Association President Noel DiGerolamo said.

Police Officer Michael Lafauci, was shot in the thigh in Coram during a confrontation Thursday with 20-year-old admitted Bloods gang member Janell Funderburke, who was under police surveillance for an armed robbery a few days before, court documents show.

Lafauci spotted Funderburke walking on Homestead Drive near his home and tried to pull a vehicle up next to him, but Funderburke ran away with Lafauci giving chase and identifying himself, according to Funderburke's bail application.

Funderburke refused to show his hands and continued to run from Lafauci, and "within seconds turned back toward the officer, extended a black firearm and fired twice in an attempt to kill [Police Officer Lafauci], striking the police officer once in the upper portion of his right thigh," the application states.

The incident was captured on body camera footage, a screenshot of which was included in the application.

LaFauci was aided by fellow officers who placed two tourniquets on his leg to stop the bleeding something doctors at Stony Brook credited with saving his life, Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told reporters at a press briefing after the shooting.

Harrison called the shooting "a reminder" of how dangerous it can be to be a police officer.

Lafauci had surgery to remove the bullet fragment and hospital staff are "hoping that there will be no need for further surgery but they're monitoring him because there was significant damage done along the path in which the bullet traveled," according to DiGerolamo.

His team of physicians, which includes the police department's surgeon Dr. James Vosswinkel "want to ensure that there is no significant nerve damage," DiGerolamo said.

It is expected that Lafauci will remain in the hospital for the next few days, possibly up to a week, as he recovers from his injury, according to DiGerolamo.

In a statement, Vosswinkel said Lafauci's "condition has been upgraded from serious to fair" and he remains stable, receiving active treatment and monitoring."

"While we remain cautiously optimistic, there is no date for potential discharge," he said.

Lafauci, who has six years on the force, has a young daughter and plans to get married, Harrison said.

He was assigned to the anti-crime/gang unit at the time of the shooting, said DiGerolamo, who credited his work with the police department.

"You don't go from [Police] Academy to a gang detail in six years without being an incredibly active and proficient police officer," he said.

After the shooting Lafauci, Funderburke continued to run, escaping to his home and additional police had to be called in, including the Emergency Services Unit, to negotiate his surrender, according to his bail application. When he was taken into custody about 45 minutes later, he was wearing different clothes and did not have the gun that he used in the shooting, the document states.

Investigators recovered 9mm shell casings from the street near the shooting, according to the document.

Funderburke, in a recorded confession, told investigators that he saw "an undercover [detective] in the same silver car," adding, "I know he saw the magazine in my waist; he passed me then came back like 30 minutes later," the bail applications states.

"I heard him driving up - you know how like they do real fast," he said, adding that "he heard the engine" and the officer "got out of the car and yelled, 'Suffolk County Police.' I ran but he was catching up to me," he told investigators.

He then finished by telling the investigators that he got as far as a white truck, "as he was coming around the corner, and I grabbed my gun and fired two shots and he went down and he started screaming."

Funderburke also admitted having crack cocaine in his possession at the time of the shooting, according to the bail application.

Investigators also found a 9mm pistol with a high-capacity feeding device, the clothes he was wearing in the shooting, and four cell phones, the document states.

Funderburke entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment.

As he was being led out of the 3rd Precinct, Funderburke told reporters, "Yeah, tell 'em I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," Newsday reported.

A man who identified himself as Funderburke's uncle told News 12 that he has psychiatric problems and is addicted to drugs. He told a reporter that the shooting was not intentional and denied that Funderburke is a gang member.

"He made a mistake, he was on drugs, he's got psych problems - serious ones, and it's documented," said the man, who declined to identify himself. "Please don't take it out of proportion and make it like he's this killer, he's this shooter."

His attorney, Christopher Cassar of Huntington, told a prosecutor that Funderburke denied the allegations as well as being a gang member. Cassar could not be reached for comment.

Funderburke was remanded without bail to the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverside.

Robbery Allegations

He was also involved in an argument with two women in a marijuana deal gone awry in front of his home on Monday night, according to the bail application.

He ended up stealing $160 from the women, pointed a gun at them, saying, "I'm going to boom you," the application states.

When the women were reporting the robbery at the 6th Precinct in Selden, Funderburke sent a message through Instagram telling one, "U know I wasn't gonna boom . . . but ur friends [sic] ... she can die," according to the document.

A History Of Prior Arrests

Funderburke's criminal history includes two bench warrants from 2021 for failing to appear in court to answer charges of fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, the document states.

He also arrests on his record as a youthful offender for possessing a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson gun and drug possession, according to the document.

He has several open court cases, including an arrest last month for fentanyl and heroin possession when he told investigators that the amount of drugs he was caught with was only a 10th of what he usually carries and that he has eight ghost guns at his house, the document states.

It continues to state that Funderburke also told investigators that "the only thing that works in my life is this finger right here," making reference to his trigger finger.

Last August, he was one of four people who fled police in a speeding car that crashed and flipped over before catching fire, and crack cocaine, oxycodone, and a .40 caliber pistol were recovered from the wreckage, according to the document.

"This conduct is another example of the defendant's attempt to avoid responsibility or capture by the police at any cost, as well as his access to firearms," the document states.

Funderburke is due back in court on May 17.

If convicted of the attempted murder charge, he faces a minimum of 20 years to life in prison.