The off-duty officer who was shot by a suspect in a Bronx robbery had the bullet removed at a Bronx hospital on Thursday where he is surrounded by his family.
Officer Ivan Marcano, with a hand over his chest wound, fatally shot one of the suspects while breaking up a robbery on Wednesday night.
“They removed the bullet and he’s doing well,” said Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Pay Lynch outside the hospital where he said Marcano was resting after surgery. “He’s doing as well in his recovery as he did on the streets last night.”
Lynch said the officer’s family is surrounding him and that recovery will likely be long.
The group COP SHOT has posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that Marcano was sitting in the passenger seat of his car on Harrison Avenue around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when his girlfriend saw two men robbing a third.
Kelly said Marcano got out, identified himself as a police officer. One of the suspects fired, hitting Marcano in the chest.
Marcano's girlfriend tried to drive him to the hospital, according to Kelly. While honking her horn at a red light, a white Mustang lurched forward striking a black livery car. Kelly said three suspects from the shooting got out of the Mustang, and with one hand on his chest wound, Officer Marcano gave chase.
"In a remarkable display of marksmanship and cool under fire, Officer Marcano fired, striking one of the suspects in the head," Kelly said.
At an evening news conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg renewed his call for President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney to offer plans to reduce gun violence.
"Our officers, and every American, deserve more and tonight we're just thankful that Washington's indifference to our police didn't result in a far worse tragedy," he said.
On Tuesday, Nassau County Police Officer Arthur Lopez was killed, allegedly by a man who had already served prison time twice, once for attempted murder.
With Elizabeth Spain and the Associated Press