Nassau Cop Shot, Suspect Dead, After Early Morning Incident In East Meadow
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- An incident in an East Meadow parking lot left one Nassau County police officer shot and a suspect killed Friday morning.
Police say the incident took place around 5:15 a.m. Police said a uniformed police officer approached the suspect -- identified as 41-year-old Duane Oxley -- who was sitting in an SUV in the parking lot at 1900 Hempstead Turnpike.
Police say for some reason a struggle broke out, the suspect fought for the officers gun and the officer was shot in the leg. It's not yet clear why, but one of the officers got into what's been characterized as an extremely violent physical struggle with the man.
"I don't know whether he jumped out or whether he got out and approached the officer. I don't know if it began as just two people speaking to each other and emerged into a violent conflict. I don't know. Again, we're trying to find that information out," Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said.
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Police said the man got hold of the officer's gun and shots rang out.
"It appears that the officer was struck with one shot by his own weapon," Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said. "It's unclear exactly how that weapon was fired. It may have been taken from the officer."
A second responding officer ran after the suspect and shot him twice in the chest -- killing him in the parking lot.
The officer was struck in the left thigh. The injury is not considered life threatening and the officer was rushed to Nassau University Medical Center.
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Both officers were taken to area hospitals, one for surgery to his leg at NUMC, the other to be treated for trauma related to the deadly shooting.
A woman, who identified herself as the suspect's fiancée, stood shaking uncontrollably at the scene with tears streaming down her face.
She told CBS 2 that she didn't know why her fiancé was in the parking or why this would happen.
Web extra: Raw video of the the news conference on the shooting.
