One NYPD detective was wounded and another grazed when the two officers shot it out with a wanted man in a Bronx alley earlier this week.
Official reports say that only 20 feet separated the combatants who fired at least 19 rounds at each other. The engagement ended when one of the officers shot off Taylor's trigger finger.
Det. William Gonzalez was shot in the thigh during the incident. Det. Daniel Rivera was grazed on the forehead, a near-miss wound.
Police sources told the New York Daily News that Rivera’s life was saved because he turned his head right before he was hit, avoiding a fatal head shot.
The suspect, Jermaine Taylor, broke his hip trying to escape. In the hospital, he was charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and illegal possession of a firearm.
Rivera and Gonzalez, both members of a warrant squad, had been working a stakeout of a suspected drug den for two days when they spotted Taylor who was wanted in connection with an earlier shooting.
They and two other officers entered the building. When they did, residents unleashed a pit bull named “Princess” on them.
Taylor reportedly ripped an air conditioner out of a second-floor window and tried to jump over a chain-link fence. Official sources say that when he was cornered in the alley by the officer, Taylor opened fire.
Under a new and controversial NYPD policy, the detectives were required to submit to a breathalyzer test after the shooting. The policy went into effect on Sept. 30.
