A Long Island police officer was shot by an alleged gangmember suspected in a robbery who fired as he ran away from the officer, according to Suffolk County police.
Police flooded a neighborhood in Coram after the call for help from one of their own came in around 1 p.m., when the as the officer had been casing out the suspect, later identified as 20-year-old Janell Funderburke, allegedly a member of the Bloods gang.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said the officer, who was in plain clothes, ordered Funderburke to stop. He refused, then fired twice at the officer in front of a home on Homestead Drive.
The cop, who has been a member of the department for six years, was struck in the upper leg, according to police. Officers applied tourniquets to stop the bleeding, sources said, and he was rushed to the hospital. He is expected to recover, as doctors said he will survive thanks to his fellow officers who were able to stop him from bleeding out.
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Harrison said the officer, who was not named during a press conference, is engaged and has a 17-month-old daughter.
Residents who live in the tree-lined neighborhood said they were frightened by the gunshots. Some saw the suspect run into a home, where police said he lives.
"I heard it outside of my house. I heard screaming, 'Help, help, help.' Picking up the officers head in the back seat and they sped to the hospital," said one neighbor, Sasha.
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Police surrounded the home Funderburke ran into, and negotiated with him to surrender. He will face charges not only for allegedly shooting the officer, but also for those connected to a previous robbery.
