An off-duty cop, shot in the chest while attempting to break up an armed robbery, fired and killed one of the suspects while two others fled.
The incident occurred at 6:30 p.m. in the Bronx when off-duty officer Ivan Marcano’s girlfriend witnessed a robbery in progress while the pair drove on Harrison Avenue. Marcano exited the car, identified himself to the two suspects and was fired at immediately, said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
After returning to the car and on the way to the hospital, Marcano saw the suspects exit a white Mustang. The officer got out of the car and using one hand to cover his wound while holding his gun in the other, fired at the suspects, fatally hitting one while two others fled.
Police are looking aggressively for the two other suspects, Kelly said. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to their arrest.
A .380 caliber semi-automatic gun was recovered at the scene.
An ambulance stationed near the scene of the shootout transferred the 27-year-old officer to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital where he is in stable condition.
“Another evening at a hospital,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who joined Kelly at Bronx-Lebanon.
“This is another case of guns in the wrong hands leading to violence.”
This was the 12th officer shot this year.
On Tuesday, Nassau County officer Arthur Lopez was killed on the border of Nassau and Queens.
Marcano joined the force in 2007 and is assigned to Transit District 12.
