NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- An NYPD detective was shot and injured as police served a drug-related warrant at a Staten Island home on Thursday morning—the second time this week and the third time this month an NYPD member has been shot.
The suspected gunman was also wounded in the shooting just after 6 a.m. on Rockne Street, near Elmwood Avenue, in the Heartland Village neighborhood, according to police.
The detective, a 10-year veteran of the department, was transported to Staten Island University Hospital North, where he was in stable condition. Officials said a gunshot wound to his leg was “life-threatening” and could be “career-ending” but that he’s expected to survive.
The suspect, who was shot in the leg by police, was taken to the same hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Officers in tactical vests and shields from the 120th Precinct were serving a warrant from the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office as part of a “long-term narcotics investigation.”
The team entered the location and had made their way up a flight of stairs to the second floor. As they got to a bedroom, the suspect fired “numerous shots” at them from another bedroom down the hall, striking the detective in his right lower leg.
Multiple officers returned fire, striking the suspect in his right inner leg, police said.
Despite suffering heavy bleeding from a “serious” leg wound, the detective managed to hold up his ballistic shield in front of his team, protecting them from the suspect’s gunfire, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at a news conference from the hospital.
The suspect’s firearm, a 9mm handgun, was recovered at the scene. Police said there is no indication the gun was stolen at this point, but an investigation is ongoing.
The suspected shooter, Nelson Cazarro, 39, was arrested. He has seven prior arrests in New York state, as well as one in Connecticut and Massachusetts, respectively, including for criminal possession of a controlled substance and weapons possession, police said.
Anthony Marshall, 40, was also taken into custody. Police said he was the focus of the narcotics investigation. He also has priors and served 48 months in jail for cocaine distribution in New Jersey.
The quiet residential block was buzzing with law enforcement activity into the morning as the investigation continued.
A neighbor, who gave his name as Chris, said he heard about 13 to 14 shots from the home.
“And then I heard a lot of radios and cops came from everywhere,” he said. “And I heard, ‘Officer down! Officer down!’ And then I saw like four or five officers take one of the officers down—they put him in the car and they drove off.”
The shooting was the second time an NYPD officer had been shot and wounded in 36 hours. A four-year veteran of the department was shot in the leg by a 16-year-old gang member in the Bronx on Tuesday night, according to police.
And it's the third time an NYPD officer has been shot this month. An NYPD officer was shot in the head and wounded as he slept in his car outside a Harlem precinct between shifts on Jan. 1.
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