NYPD Officer Dies Five Days After Traffic Stop Shooting

NYPD Officer Russel Timoshenko, 23, who was shot in the face Monday July 9 during a traffic stop died Saturday in Kings County Hospital.

“Officer Timoshenko made the ultimate sacrifice with unflinching bravery and dedication to duty,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told the press gathered outside the hospital. Kelly also said that each member of Timoshenko’s command visited the mortally wounded officer the previous night. In addition, he said more than 150 NYPD officers filed past his bed to pay their last respects during the final 15 minutes of Timoshenko’s life.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg paid his respects to Timoshenko’s family in person shortly after the officer’s death. In a written statement, Bloomberg said, “While I can’t know the anguish they are going through, I want Russel’s parents Leonid and Tatyana to know their son was a hero. It does not provide any consolation, but I am proud of the investigators who worked so swiftly to apprehend those that committed this detestable and cowardly act.”

Three men have been charged with shooting Timoshenko and Officer Herman Yan during a traffic stop early last Monday in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn. Yan was hit in the forearm and in the chest. Yan’s vest protected him from what might have been a fatal wound. Timoshenko was shot in the face and doctors said that the bullets severed his spinal cord just below his brain, paralyzing him and preventing him from breathing.

Timoshenko immigrated to the United States from Belarus with his family in 1993. He had been on the force for 18 months. His funeral is scheduled for Tuesday.