Terrence Cofield, another parolee who witnessed the shooting, told Eyewitness News that the shooter was sitting in a room waiting for his name to be called. As soon as it was, Cofield said he got up, walked into the adjoining office and shot the parole officer once in the shoulder.
"He looked just regular. Middle-aged white guy. He had a ponytail. The same face he had when he had coming in he had going out. No expression," Cofield said.
The gunman was later identified as 50-year-old Robert Morales of Brooklyn.
State parole spokesman Marc Violette says another parole officer then tackled Morales. The weapon was recovered. He was arrested.
Violette says the officer, 49-year-old Samuel Salters, was taken to Bellevue Hospital. He was in stable condition on Friday.
In the past, Morales, the gunman, was convicted back in 1979 for murder involving an arson that killed a young boy. He was last paroled in 2002.
Police say Morales was charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
