Gun Belt Deflection Saves NYC Police Officer During Shootout
- Posted on February 28, 2012 at 9:33pm by
Buck Sexton
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A New York City cop is alive and well today after surviving a harrowing shootout unscathed because a bullet heading for his waist ricocheted off an ammo magazine.
For Officer Thomas Richards, it was a close call in the line of duty. The New York Post gave some after action report details from the NYPD’s top cop:
“It’s another miracle,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said after the wild Lower East Side fire-fight that ended with Officer Thomas Richards, 36, and his partner safely headed home — and accused gunman Luis Martinez in custody with a bullet wound to his leg.
“If it had been up an inch,” it would have been in his belly, Kelly said of the slug that tore through Richards’ leather ammo pouch and struck his metal magazine clip, bending it and spilling his extra bullets on the ground.”
Richards is not the only officer to have been shot in recent weeks. Three NYPD officers have be shot in just over a month, but fortunately in all of those incidents the officers survived. NYPD Officer Peter Figorski, however, was fatally shot this past December.
Officer Thomas Dunne, who is Richards partner, told the Post that “When [Richards] first got shot, I thought he was hurt bad. Fortunately, someone was watching over us last night.” 30-year-old Officer Dunne was holding his 5-month-old son, Jaxson, outside his Long Island home during the interview.
Richards’ family, the police department, and the City of New York are all breathing a sigh of relief that Richards is going to be just fine.
9mm Taurus
The whole shooting incident started at about 2 o’clock in the morning in downtown Manhattan when Richards and his partner saw a vehicle do an abrupt U-turn when their police van came into view.
When they pulled over the suspicious vehicle, the suspect, Luis Martinez, allegedly began firing at the officers right away with a 9mm Taurus pistol. According to the officers’ account, Martinez fired three times, striking Richards in the belt area and bursting an ammunition magazine.
Then Richards returned fire at Martinez, and one of his eleven shots struck Martinez in the leg. Martinez dashed to his nearby apartment, ditched his weapon, and was later tracked down by an NYPD K-9 unit.
(h/t NY Post)
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DYNA
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 3:22amI wonder if Martinez is being supported by the taxpayers, who’s law officers he tried to murder.
Report Post »saltwater
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 2:20pmLooks to me like NYPD pfficers need more range time. One hit out of eleven rounds fired. My elevan year old daughter is a better shot than that.
Report Post »db321
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 3:30pmI thought it was illegal for citizens to have Guns in NY? How did he get shot if no one is allowed to have weapons? It’s a mystery to me!
Report Post »Liberalslayer_1861
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 11:58pmLOL! Got to love gun control!!!!!
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 2:00amThis is obviously a fake story, given that everyone knows guns are illegal in NYC and nobody would even think of having one…….wheee!!..look at me, I can sound just like a liberal!!
Report Post »GP100
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 6:06amObviously they need more gun laws.
/sarcasm off
Report Post »Liberalslayer_1861
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 11:57pmI could have sworn that guns were banned in The peoples socialist republic of New York. You mean gun control is not working in that city?! OMG! Bloomberg where are you, your anti-gun superpowers are needed! (sarcasm included)
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 11:06pmWas that the picture of the Police Officer or the perp? That’s one messed up looking guy.
Report Post »Grannie4news
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 11:50pmIt is the Officer, see his left shoulder. That is a cops shirt.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 12:53am@Grannie4news
Report Post »He looks like a drug addict or an alcoholic to me. And I should know…. Friend of Bill W and Dr Bob since 10-10-88.
db321
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 3:32pmHe looks like he got shot in the face or run over.
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:49pm“Magazine clip”, like “dehydrated water”, “jumbo shrimp”, “military intelligence”, “Democrat ethics”, and “Obama the job creator” are all contradictions in terms.
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 11:02pmWell at least it was grey text this time; which means The Blaze is quoting someone else’s ignorance.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 11:13pm@LPHP’s
Report Post »Oxymorons are fun sometimes… I like “deafening silence”.
Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:14am@ The Monk:
What did you call me? –_–
:-)
Report Post »LegionOfOne
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:42amLPHP – Lady, I swear, you come up with some of the funniest one liners. Keep rockin!
Report Post »Razorhunters
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:48pmam glad he survived…live long and prosper.
btw,
Report Post »an armed society is a polite society…
Lead-B-4-Guns
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:21pmCorrect me if I’m wrong but I thought guns were illegal in NY, Oh yeah I forgot that only counts for law abiding citizens…..
Report Post »gypsyman
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 9:53pmONE, of his eleven shots hit the guy. Sounds like he needs to spend more time at the range.
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:11pmI was thinking the same thing. Apparently they don’t spend much of their huge budget on training.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:15pmThe first 10 he was just making him dance.
Report Post »single stack
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:20pmThat’s pretty typical of the marksmanship of most cops. Though to be fair, during the high stress environment of a gunfight marksmanship suffers markedly. Fine motor control is nonexistent, tunnel vision takes over, and the sights often seem to disappear.
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:23pmOK Gypsy, so you’re dead-eye dick when the flat man on the paper target looks like he’s shooting back. You the man!
Report Post »RAN58
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:27pmMy thoughts exactly. NYC’s finest fire a boatload of bullets and only one connects, while the perp fires one shot and hit’s the officer (thankfully deflected by his clip). Perhaps a lot more range time is needed for NYC’s finest. Maybe some stress training while firing those paper targets. Wonder where all the other bullets ended up.
Report Post »ilovestock
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 3:31amBig difference shooting at paper targets in a controlled situation and street combat with someone shooting at you. Perhaps you should try it some time, you talk real big.
Report Post »Wolf
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 8:44amSince guns are illegal in NY and only the po-po have them, there‘s no need for them to be accurate since they’ll never use them. Hence: why practice?
Report Post »Wolf
Posted on February 29, 2012 at 8:48am@ BryanfromFlorida… and you can verify this misinformation? Stop playing video games and join the real world.
Report Post »sawbuck
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 9:49pmHow come “the bad guy” always gets to carry in NYC..?
Report Post »Bad.. Bad…GUN ..need more laws..!
Lumbar Spine
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 9:59pmThe “bad guy” is going to jail for a very long time because of the law. Ask Plaxico Burress what happens when you get caught carrying in NYC…let alone shoot a cop.
Report Post »sawbuck
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:41pmL.S.
Yea in a “City” that has the STRICTEST anti-gun laws in our country .
“A bad Guy”… can “STILL” get a gun and almost kill a cop.
And stricter GUN laws ..If there is such a thing…will stop that…?
Anti-gun laws ONLY stop law-biding citizens.
Doors never stopped a criminal form breaking in a house.
Report Post »Anti-gun laws never stopped a criminal from getting a gun.
Get a clue ..!
ZeroOff4impact
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 9:47pmMissed 10 times ?
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 9:54pmBut Superman always ducked when the bad guy threw the gun.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 11:26pm@Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Report Post »That is soooo funny and true. You had me laughing on that one. : )
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 9:45pmWait, wait, wait, wait. Guns are outlawed in New York. How can cops get into a shoot out when it is illegal to have a gun in New York? This can’t be, that guy who shot at the cop must have been breaking the law. That shouldn’t be possible, there was a law against that. We need to pass another law ASAP.
Report Post »Buck Shane
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:24pmWhy is there a sentencing difference between murder and attempted murder? Doesn’t that reward incompetence?
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:36pmTrue, maybe there should be a sound butt paddling that comes with “Attempted Murder” I would love to hear Yoda as that judge…”Do or Do not, there is no try in Murder….Hate leads to Despair, Despair leads to suffering, and suffering leads to attempted murder.”
Report Post »Razorhunters
Posted on February 28, 2012 at 11:13pmlol dam funny darmok
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