FDNY Lieutenant Who Was Shot On S.I. Thanks Officials, New Yorkers As He Recovers
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An FDNY lieutenant who was shot while responding to a Staten Island fire thanked his colleagues, family and the people of New York City on Friday.
Lt. James Hayes issued a statement Friday, two weeks after he was wounded by a Bloods gang member who was later killed after firing at police.
Hayes praised federal marshals, police officers and firefighters who rescued him despite the threat to their own safety.
He also thanked Mayor Bill de Blasio, the fire and police commissioners, medical workers and others who've helped him and shown kindness to his family.
He said the love of his wife and children make him feel like ``the luckiest man in the world.''
Hayes, a 31-year veteran of the FDNY, is expected to make a full recovery. Authorities said he was shot twice early Friday, Aug. 14, by a suspected gang member while responding to a fire call at a home on Destiny Court in Mariners Harbor.
Both the mayor and fire commissioner visited Hayes at the hospital before he was released Saturday, Aug. 15, and called the father of two a hero.
It all began just before 6 a.m. when a U.S. Marshals regional task force went to arrest 38-year-old Garland Tyree at his girlfriend's home on federal parole violation charges, police said.
But he refused to open the door, officials said, and then ignited a commercial-grade smoke bomb, prompting the officers to call the FDNY.
When Hayes went in to fight the fire, police said Tyree shot at him at multiple times. Hayes was struck twice and both bullets exited his body.
A member of the task force fired once at the home as he dragged Hayes to safety, officials said. He was rushed to the hospital in stable condition.
An emergency response team was then called and the house was surrounded as hostage negotiators got to work, getting Tyree's sister and girlfriend on the phone and even flying his mother in a police helicopter from Delaware to Staten Island, authorities said.
Over the course of the standoff, Tyree fired his weapon and officers didn't return fire, Bratton said.
After a six-hour standoff, Tyree told his mother over the phone he had agreed to surrender, police said.
Instead, Tyree emerged from the apartment armed with a fully automatic AK-47 and began firing "numerous rounds" at police, Chief Harry Wheaton from the NYPD Special Operations Bureau said.
He was wearing a bulletproof vest and his shots struck police cars and a neighbor's house, officials said. Officers returned fire, killing Tyree, police said.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
