A Rochester police officer was shot early Friday while approaching a man on the city’s northwest side. The suspected shooter then turned the gun on himself, said Rochester Police Chief David Smith.
Officer shot during encounter
The officer had just stepped out of a marked patrol car around 1 a.m. just south of Lake Avenue and Driving Park Avenue when the man pulled out a handgun and fired three shots, striking the officer at least once in the lower body, said Rochester Police Capt. Greg Bello. The shooter then fled the scene.
Bello said that the injured officer had “stepped out to talk to the individual but didn’t really get very far.” The man, he said, was walking in the area at the time.
Smith later noted that the officer was seeking to speak with the man about another recent shooting within city limits.
Injuries not life-threatening
The officer started treating his own wound with a tourniquet. The next officer to arrive at the scene “recognized the severity of the injury, quickly loaded him into a police car” and drove the injured officer to Rochester General Hospital, Bello said. His injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The officer is “stable” and recovering, Smith said an a news conference Tuesday, and by “the grace of God, he will be making a full recovery. He’s with his family now.”
The injured officer is expected to be released from the hospital sometime on Saturday, Bello said at a mid-afternoon news conference.
Dr. Keith Grams, executive medical director of emergency medicine for Rochester Regional Health, described the care for the officer as a “best-case scenario” – from the officer applying his own tourniquet at the scene to the quick transport of the injured officer to RGH where he received immediate medical care.
“The patient is stable and we’re in the best place possible at this point,” Grams said.
The injured officer has been a member of the Rochester Police Department for just over one year, Smith said. He will be placed on medical leave “for the foreseeable future,” Smith said.
Suspect has died
Police closed roads in the area to vehicle and pedestrian traffic as officers searched for the suspect.
Around 5 a.m., RPD’s drone unit observed the heat signature of a man hiding in a pile of brush and debris behind a building on Lake Avenue, near Glenwood Avenue, a few blocks south of the initial scene.
After the drone shone a spotlight on the man, he pulled out a handgun and fatally shot himself, Smith said. The deceased man was tentatively identified as same person who shot the officer several hours earlier.
The Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office is working to confirm his identity.
Fourth RPD officer shot since December
The early-morning incident was the department’s fourth shooting in which an officer was injured in as many months, Smith said. Three other shootings occurred in December and then Friday’s incident. All of the injured officers survived.
“Every day our officers are out there literally risking their lives to make our community a safer place,” Smith said. “It’s reality.”
Statement from the injured officer’s family
Rochester Regional Health spokeswoman Cristina Domingues Umbrino read the statement during a mid-afternoon news conference at Rochester General Hospital:
“We are deeply grateful to the entire Rochester Police Department for their support of our son. We also want to recognize the training he received, which we believe played a critical role in helping to save his life.
We extend our sincere thanks to the Rochester General Hospital for professionalism, compassion and kindness shown to our family during this incredibly difficult time.”
Investigation ongoing
No charges have been filed in connection with the incident. None of the involved police officers fired their weapons during the encounters.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester police officer shot after suspect opens fire during encounter. What we know now
Reporting by Victoria E. Freile, New York Connect Team / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
