NYPD officer shot in Queens leaves hospital as leaders wonder why the suspect was on the streets
NEW YORK -- The NYPD officer who was shot by a gunman in Queens on Tuesday night left the hospital Wednesday morning.
Officer Rich Wong, 36, was shot in the leg by 57-year-old Gary Worthy, police said. Worthy was killed when Wong returned fire, striking him in the face.
Wong, a seven-year veteran of the force, was greeted by a sea of police officers who applauded as he left the hospital.
"His mindset is get better and to be able to go back to duty and help the people of Jamaica, Queens, like he was doing," Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said.
A 26-year-old innocent bystander was also shot during the incident, and is expected to be OK. She remains in the hospital.
Shootings followed robberies
The NYPD says it was called to a bodega on Hillside Avenue at around 5:35 p.m. Tuesday. Worthy allegedly threatened workers and customers with a gun, and fired one shot, authorities said.
"He showed me the gun here at the register. I was down in the basement. So I was scared. Then I hear the sound of the gun," cashier Jasmine Kur said.
Surveillance video shows the suspect shooting the cash register, but he is still unable to get the money out so he leaves.
As police were searching the area, officers were alerted to another smoke shop robbery on Guy Brewer Boulevard, where another shot had been fired by the suspect, according to authorities. The suspect's description in the second incident matched the suspect in the first.
"He points the gun at me and says, 'Give me all the money,'" store clerk Abdul Abdulla said.
The cashier clears out the register, but it wasn't enough for the gunman.
"He says, 'Give me more. Give me more,' and I said, 'That's what I got. That's what I got,' and he shot," Abdulla said.
The bullet went through the cashier's legs and shattered the store window.
"Thank God. As long as I'm alive, I don't care about the money," Abdulla said.
Wong and his partner spotted Worthy near 161st Street and Jamaica Avenue and told him to stop, but he started running and pulled a gun, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. Worthy ignored commands to drop the gun and fired, hitting Wong in the thigh. That's when Wong shot him, Kenny said.
Worthy was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Questions as to why the suspect was on the streets
Authorities said Worthy had been arrested 17 times before on charges that included murder, robbery, burglary and narcotics possession. His most recent arrest was just days ago, for possession of narcotics and resisting arrest.
Worthy was placed on lifetime parole in 2021 for weapons possession, yet he was released on his own recognizance after his most recent arrest. That was just one of seven arrests he had since being placed on lifetime parole. Police said Worthy was also wanted for three additional gunpoint robberies in which shots were fired that occurred on Halloween and Nov. 15.
"You look at someone's record. He was arrested 17 times. He's a danger to society. He was arrested for a murder -- a murder out of those 17. Then he gets arrested seven times while on lifetime parole. Something's wrong with the system," Hendry said.
"We're angry because we have witnessed in two days a criminal justice system that is failing New Yorkers and the good people of this city. Angry that a violent repeated offender who has prior gun arrests, who pled guilty to manslaughter and who was arrested for seven crimes since [2021] alone was free to commit two robberies tonight," Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday night.
CBS News New York asked John Jay College Professor Emeritus Martin Horn the point of lifetime of parole if someone can be released after they're arrested on lifetime parole.
"An arrest is only an accusation," Horn said. "In New York, they have chosen to have lifetime parole rather than life without parole for some individuals, and whenever you parole someone, the state assumes a certain level of risk."