Off-Duty NYPD Officer Shot In Foot In Harlem
Update: Off-Duty NYPD Officer Released From Hospital, Expected To Make Full Recovery After Harlem Shooting
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A police officer was injured in a shooting in Harlem on Saturday.
He is the seventh officer to be shot this year.
It happened around 4:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Manhattanville Houses at 3250 Broadway.
As CBS2's Kiran Dhillon reports, the 47-year-old off-duty officer, a 16-year veteran of the force, was attending a vigil there for a prominent community member.
WATCH: Officials Provide Update On Harlem Shooting That Injured Off-Duty Officer --
According to police, as he was leaving the lobby of a community center, he walked out and witnessed two men involved in a shooting.
"They started firing. As they fired, he dived for cover and that's when we believe he got hit in the foot," NYPD Chief of Housing Jeffrey Maddrey said.
It's believed the shooting may be connected to a dispute that took place between the suspects a few hours earlier.
As for the off-duty cop, police say he never fired his weapon.
"The officer was able to assist with the investigation, give a physical description of the two males and work with the officers to try to apprehend the suspect. As the off-duty officer was standing there, he started to feel pain in his left foot. An ambulance came. He was looked at and examined in the back of the ambulance and he realized that he was shot in the foot. It appears to be two wounds. We don't know if it's an entry or an exit wound, that's to be determined," Maddrey said.
The officer, who is assigned to the housing bureau in the Bronx, was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside hospital, where he was last reported to be in stable condition.
"Any gunshot wound is potentially life- or limb-threatening. This bullet traversed critical vessels and nerves and tendons, but we expect him to make a full recovery," said Dr. Eli Kleinman, supervising chief surgeon for the NYPD.
The NYPD housing chief is joining the call to put a stop to the violence.
"Our whole city is probably thankful right now that this incident wasn't much worse," Maddrey said. "Our gun violence has been increasing and I'm just making a plea to all of our communities, all of our citizens, our police -- we all need to support one another. We have to stop this scourge of gun violence. We shouldn't have to live like this. We're not supposed to live like this."
Police say right now they are still looking for suspects in the case. Anyone with information is being asked to call them.
CBS2's Kiran Dhillon contributed to this report.
