Off-Duty NYPD Sergeant Shoots Man On His Property On Long Island, Police Say
SEAFORD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - An off-duty NYPD sergeant shot a man on his property Friday morning on Long Island.
The man allegedly came at the officer with a bat, but that man's lawyer paints a different picture.
Police responded to a 911 call for shots fired shortly after 12 a.m. on Stirrup Path in Seaford.
The off-duty officer came home and there was an altercation with a man who knows the officer's wife. Police sources say one thing, a lawyer for the man who was shot says another.
Investigators combed the area with metal detectors Friday afternoon.
Sources tell CBS2 a 34-year-old off-duty NYPD sergeant in Queens came home and found out his wife was having some sort of relationship with her gym instructor. Sources say he made the 29-year-old man leave the house. Sources say they began to argue in front of the home, and the gym instructor went to his car and came back with a bat. That's when the off-duty sergeant shot him, source say.
"I looked out the window, and there was a man sitting at the end of my driveway, and I heard yelling. Then all the cop cars came," neighbor Tracey Arena told CBS2. "The EMTs came, they took his shirt off, they took him away in the ambulance."
A lawyer for the 29-year-old, who says his client is a personal trainer, does not know how the woman and his client know each other. He disputes that account of what happened.
"He shot him right in the chest. He followed him, accosted him and shot him. From what I understand, he yelled out before he did that that he was going to kill him," attorney Jason Russo said. "At this point, I don't have a clear understanding of the motive."
No one answered at the home of the officer.
The NYPD referred CBS2's Alice Gainer to Nassau County Police.
Neighbors don't know what to make of the incident.
"We work different hours, so I really don't get to see him, but our kids play together. Once in awhile, they get together," Dennis Yankowitz said. "Really everyone keeps to themselves around here unless there's something big going on."
The man shot in the chest is in stable condition. As for the off-duty officer, he has been placed on modified duty, his gun and shield taken.
The investigation continues.
