Crime & Safety
Suffolk Police Officer Shot In Line Of Duty Had 'Angel Looking After Him': Doc
P.O. Michael Lafauci is going home one week after he was shot with a 9mm hollow-point bullet, police surgeon Dr. James Vosswinkel said.
STONY BROOK, NY — A throng of uniformed law enforcement personnel saluted injured Suffolk County Police Officer Michael Lafauci with a hero's welcome Thursday, as he was released from Stony Brook University Hospital after being shot in the line of duty one week ago while pursuing a robbery suspect.
Police surgeon Dr. James Vossvinkel said Lafauci was shot with a 9 mm, hollow-point bullet “designed to do maximum damage as it tears, rips and pulls tissue, and we are discharging him today.”
“That's a lot more than medicine can do. That's an angel looking after him. And not to misuse a word...it's miraculous,” he said.
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Lafauci had been surveilling Janell Funderburke when he spotted the 20-year-old near his home in Coram on May 11. When he approached him, he took off, then turned around and opened fire, police said.
Lafauci was struck by a bullet in the thigh. His team came to his aid and applied tourniquets to stop the bleeding, and he later underwent surgery to remove the bullet fragments at Stony Brook. He has been there under the care of Vosswinkel and his staff since.
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Police Benevolent Association President Noel DiGerolamo credited the quick-thinking actions of Lafauci's teammates and other medical personnel, who got the bleeding in his leg under control.
“If not for the emergency care that had been given to our officers on the scene and in transport and in this situation, and intervention of a transport to get a Medcat officer on there to apply a tourniquet, and quick clot and stop the bleed, we would have lost Mike,” he said.
The 27-year-old officer said he was “very happy to go home, lucky to be alive, lucky to be alive,” Newsday reported.
Lafauci, who has been on the force for six years, has a 17-month-old daughter and is engaged to be married.
Donations are being collected to help his family with medical and other expenses on Fund the First. So far, the page has surpassed its $25,000 goal with a collection of $42,000.
County Executive Steve Bellone said it was a good day because “one of our hero officers is going home today, and that's a great day for all of us in this department, and all of us in this county.”
Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison opined that the officer was “just doing his job” when he was shot.
“He was trying to hold somebody responsible that committed a robbery two days before this incident,” he said. “The men and women of the Suffolk County Police Department put their lives on the line every single day to bring justice to families.”
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Lafauci's shooting sparked calls for more police enforcement in the Coram area this week.
Harrison has said the department will continue to examine staffing levels at the 6th Precinct in Selden.
Funderburke reportedly told reporters he was sorry at his arraignment last week in Central Islip.
His attorney has denied that his client is affiliated with a gang.
Funderburke is expected to appear in court at a later date.
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