An NYPD officer and another woman were shot in Queens by an armed robbery suspect who was believed to be responsible for multiple robberies within the span of just an hour, according to police.
Officers initially responded to a 911 call of a robbery in progress at a deli on Hillside Avenue near 164th Street in Jamaica, police said. A man had entered, threatening workers and customers with a black revolver. He then fired once before running from the scene, police said.
As police searched for the suspect, officers were flagged down by a witness who pointed out a man on Jamaica Avenue and 160th Street. The witness told police the man had just robbed a smoke shop on Guy Brewer Boulevard, during which time a shot was fired, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny.
Around 6:30 p.m., about an hour after the first robbery, two uniformed and on-duty neighborhood coordination officers went up to a man who fit the description of the suspect in the robberies. They told him to stop, but he took off and took out a gun.
After being ordered to drop his weapon, the suspect fired once, hitting Officer Rich Wong in the thigh, Kenny said at a press conference from the hospital. Wong then returned fire, striking the suspect in the face.
The suspect, identified by police as 57-year-old Gary Worthy, was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival just after 7 p.m.
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Wong, a seven-year veteran of the NYPD, was hospitalized but was expected to make a full recovery, police said.
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At some point during one of the exchanges, a 26-year-old woman was also shot, with a bullet striking her in the leg as she was shopping, according to Kenny. It wasn't immediately clear who shot her, but she was expected to recover as well.
Mayor Eric Adams called Worthy a "reckless perpetrator who allegedly showed a complete disregard for human life."
NYPD Chief Kenny said Worth had 17 prior arrests, for charges including murder, robbery and narcotics possession. He had been out on lifetime parole, with his last arrest having come just six days before Tuesday's violence, getting nabbed for narcotics possession and resisting arrest. He was released after that arrest, however.
Worthy, who had been arrested for seven crimes since 2001, was also wanted for three other robberies at gunpoint, according to police. Shots were fired as well during those robberies, which occurred earlier in November and on Halloween.
