NYPD officer saves Harlem pizza shop employee shot during robbery
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, Manhattan (WABC) -- An NYPD officer rushed to the aid of a pizzeria worker who was shot in the leg during a robbery in Harlem.
The incident happened Saturday around 9:30 p.m. at the family-owned pizza shop in the 3100 block of Broadway.
The suspect approached the 20-year-old employee, displayed a firearm and tried to take what was in the cash register. The employee was shot once in the upper leg before the suspect ran away without any cash.
Officer Joshua Escobar arrived to the scene and realized the bullet hit the victim's artery. He wrapped a department-issued tourniquet around the employee's leg to help stop the bleeding.
"I kept talking to him, I kept telling him to remember his family, trying to put images in his head," Escobar said. "I gave a few jokes to him, I told him I was going to come back for food."
The employee was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition.
Escobar has been in touch with the victim every day since the incident and the victim is very grateful for Escobar's quick actions to save his life.
Authorities are still searching for the suspect. Police have released surveillance footage of the man they are looking for:
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