Families, Neighbors Hope For Recovery For 2 Officers Shot In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The officers who were shot and wounded in the Bronx on Monday night both came from Rockland County, and their friends and families were heartbroken over the shootings.
As CBS2's Ilana Gold reported Tuesday, Officer Andrew Dossi, 30, is an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq. He was wounded in the shooting in the Fordham section of the Bronx along with Officer Aliro Pellerano, 38.
"Every time he leaves, I say, 'Be careful,'" said Officer Dossi's father, Joseph Dossi.
And that was exactly what Joseph Dossi told his son before the shooting before his shift on Monday.
"Things start going through your head," Joseph Dossi said.
Joseph Dossi rushed to the hospital to see his son. He told CBS2 a bullet just missed his son's spine, while another shattered his arm.
Officer Dossi underwent surgery at St. Barnabas Hospital Bronx.
"My wife said he was attempting to eat a little bit -- not much, but something," Joseph Dossi said.
Officer Dossi, of Stony Point, was a staff sergeant in the Army and had just packed his bag for a deployment to Africa next week. That has been canceled because of his injuries.
"A different breed of people do things like this," Joseph Dossi said. "These are people that don't have any regard for life."
The officer's father said Mayor Bill de Blasio visited him at the hospital last night.
"To me, (the mayor) seemed concerned," Joseph Dossi said. "You know, I thought he was very respectful."
Joseph Dossi did not want to answer a question about what his son said about the mayor's visit.
A few miles away in Garnerville, Officer Pellerano's family was not home when CBS2 stopped by. But CBS2 did speak to a neighbor, Marty Salvato.
"I had said to him, when the other two officers got shot, I said: 'Please be careful. Just watch your back,'" Salvato said.
Salvato was devastated to learn that a bullet struck Pellerano in the arm.
"He's a good man -- not because he's my neighbor," she said. "But he is. He's a wonderful man."
She said Pellerano has a wife and three teenage children, and they are posting on Twitter. His son tweeted, "Say strong pops," and upon finding out that two suspects had been charged, he tweeted, "Thank God."
Dossi and Pellerano were among members of the 46th Precinct Anti-Crime Unit who were preparing to end their day and go off duty, when they heard a call of a robbery from a patrol sergeant. The officers found two suspects in the robbery of a deli at 180th Street and Webster Avenue in the Bronx, and one of them fired and struck Dossi and Pellerano, police said.
Jason Polanco -- the suspected gunman -- was charged with five counts of attempted murder of a police officer, as well as robbery and carjacking, police said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. A second suspect, Joshua Kemp, was charged with robbery, police said.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Officer Pellerano was expected to be released from the hospital on Wednesday morning. It was not clear when Dossi would be released, or what the officers' recovery would be like.
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