Watch CBS News

NYPD Officer Mistakenly Shoots Drug Suspect's Dad

NEW YORK (AP) -- A drug raid in the Bronx went awry Saturday when a police officer accidentally fired his gun and wounded the suspect's elderly father, authorities said.

The shooting happened at around 7 a.m. as a tactical squad entered an apartment in the Soundview section to arrest a man on a narcotics charge.

One of the arresting officers, Andrew McCormack, inadvertently discharged his weapon, striking the 76-year-old in the stomach, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation.

McCormack is the son of a police officer who was killed in the line of duty in 1983. He was a child when his father, Joseph McCormack, was shot by a mentally disturbed man who had barricaded himself in a Bronx home.

The man wounded in Saturday's raid was hospitalized in stable condition, authorities said. He is expected to survive.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly visited the man at Jacobi Medical Center on Saturday afternoon, police said. The commissioner also met with members of his family.

The drug suspect, Alberto Colon, 41, was in custody and wasn't available for comment. Heroin was found in the apartment, the police department said, but charges hadn't been formalized.

Colon's father wasn't alleged to have done anything wrong or to have had any knowledge of his son's crimes, police said.

McCormack has been on the police force for 11 years. After his father was killed, his mother, Susan McCormack, co-founded Survivors of the Shield, a support group for the families of slain police officers.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.