They made police Officer Michael Lavay take a wheelchair out of Lutheran Hospital, but when the time came to get into the car, he got up without a problem and walked briskly into the rest of his life.
Authorities identified the man who opened fire and was later killed.
Police said Peter Jourdan, 37, of Allentown, Pa., passed between subway cars while the train was moving, which is illegal, shortly before 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
As the train pulled into the Brooklyn station, plainclothes officers Michael Levay and Lukasz Kozicki asked Jourdan for his identification.
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said that, at first, it looked like the man was going to cooperate.
"The male stood up as if to comply with the officers, and appeared to reach for his wallet," Kelly said.
Instead, he pulled a gun. Kozicki was struck three times and Levay had a graze wound to his back but was able to return fire, killing Jourdan, police said. A passenger also suffered a graze wound in the chaos, while others ran for cover on the platform when the gunfire erupted, police said.
There were no other injuries.
"A witness said that the gunman appeared to notice the officer's bullet-resistant vest, and, as a result, aimed low before he fired," Kelly said.
Levay, who was struck in the lower back, returned fire and killed the gunman. In the exchange, a bullet grazed another passenger.
Others quickly got out of the way and on to the station's platform.
"I always feel safe here," one witness said. "The guys in the booth, always nice, 'Good morning, good afternoon.' But for something like this to happen this time of night, it's sad."
Police said the 37-year-old Jourdan had a lengthy criminal history, with crimes committed both locally and in California. The gun was apparently purchased in Pennsylvania.
The man grazed on the subway, identified as Emmanuel Ramos, was wounded in the leg.
The subway shooting was the second of two Thursday involving police officers. Off-duty Police Officer Juan Pichardo was shot in the thigh at his family's Bronx car dealership during a robbery at about 6:30 p.m.
For more on the other police officer injured in the Bronx, CLICK HERE.
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