Third person being questioned after friendly fire during drug bust in Bushwick; new surveillance video
BUSHWICK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A third person is being questioned by police following a shooting of an NYPD detective during a drug arrest in Brooklyn.
The plainclothes detective was shot by friendly fire Tuesday night.
The detective was wheeled quickly but gently to a waiting ambulance at 2:35 p.m. on Wednesday with the bullet, according to sources, still lodged in his chest.
He left Elmhurst Hospital with a highway patrol escort to Manhattan's renowned Hospital for Special Surgery. That's where doctors will work to repair, perhaps even replace his shattered shoulder.
"This is a serious injury, you don't know the extent of how serious it is yet, so that's why he was moved to the Hospital for Special Surgery to get a better evaluation," said Michael Palladino, Detectives' Endowment Association.
In Bushwick Wednesday morning, police towed the suspects' minivan after crime scene investigators spent the entire night gathering evidence.
But police officials say there is now no doubt that the detective was struck by a bullet from his partner's gun.
Surveillance video captured the shooting on camera. You can see the car in the upper left corner of the video.
"The detective was on the passenger side of the vehicle and was reaching into the vehicle to make an arrest when the vehicle backed up, and then it moved forward. At that moment, both the sergeant that was standing on the driver's side of the vehicle and the detective where he was, they fired their weapons," said First Deputy Commissioner Ben Tucker, NYPD.
A total of four shots were fired, all of them, apparently by the officers after they converged on the minivan.
Two suspects were quickly arrested; 45-year-old Oscar Vera was wounded, but not seriously. Vera faces several charges including assault of a police officer, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal sale of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment, and resisting arrest.
Police announced Wednesday night that they were questioning a third person in regards to the incident.
But for the wounded detective, the recovery will take time.
"Last night's event shows you once again how difficult, dangerous, and sometimes deadly this job could be," Palladino said.
