NYPD officers, wounded in Queens shootout in 2024, honored with promotion
LOWER MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) -- Two brave New York officers, wounded in a shootout with a suspect in Queens, were honored with a promotion on Friday by the NYPD.
"If you told me 3 years ago, when I got on this job, that this would happen, I wouldn't believe you," said Det. Richard Yarusso.
Yarusso and his partner, Christopher Abreu, were promoted to the rank of detective, nine months after the traffic stop in East Elmhurst last year that nearly killed them.
"We observed somebody who was, you know, going the wrong way down a one-way on a moped-unregistered, no plate, no helmet, going the wrong way," Abreu said. "You know, we're like, 'All right, what's up with this guy?'"
After the two officers chased him down, the suspect opened fire.
"He pulls out a loaded firearm, pistol, you know, turns on us. And, you know, he fired shots hitting my partner in the chest, hitting me in the leg," Abreu said.
The gunman was wounded after the officers returned fire. Yarusso was saved by his body armor.
"We kind of fell back on our training, what they teach us in the academy," Yarusso said. "And, you know, that's the reason why we're here today."
Just three months earlier, Officer Jonathan Diller was killed in a traffic stop after being struck by a bullet just below his body armor.
"It's only because of the bravery of cops like these-like all of you-that we are turning the tide against gun violence in the city," said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The accused gunman, 19-year-old Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, is an immigrant from Venezuela, and a suspect in a series of street robberies.
He remains in custody in New York, awaiting trial on attempted murder charges.
"We approach certain situations and with more caution and in a safer way," Abreu said. "So, you know, definitely it makes you would think twice before certain things."
"It's crazy how things take a turn on this job sometimes, you know?" Yarusso said. "You never know, like, what's going to happen, you know? Today, or the next day, or the day after that."
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