Ryder: MS-13 targeted specific officer in 2nd MS-13 threat

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder says a second threat has been issued by MS-13 -- this time against a specific on-duty officer.
News 12 Long Island reported last Wednesday that Nassau police received a tip from an informant who told them MS-13 issued a call for gang members to kill a Hempstead officer in retaliation for recent gang arrests.
According to the informant, the gang member said, “It's time to take the streets back and shoot a cop like we do in El Salvador."
In response, Nassau police immediately launched an intense crackdown aimed at taking gang members off the streets in Hempstead Village.
“We rolled out 150 cops into those areas. We got great support from Homeland Security,” Ryder says.
He says the gang members actually “observed a cop in his relieving area and were watching his actions to act upon him.”
“They had masks and guns in the car at the time, according to a source,” he says. “By the grace of God, he left to go out on a call.”
At that point the threat was halted, Ryder says.
Ryder says extra enforcement in Hempstead Village has netted 50 arrests, mostly of alleged drug users connected to MS-13.
The commissioner says the operation also nabbed Walter Rodriguez Valencia -- an alleged gang member wanted in Maryland on a slew of charges, including attempted murder, kidnapping and robbery.
In addition to stepping up patrols in Hempstead Village, changes have been made to keep officers safe. Nassau police officials say they are now requiring police cars to be manned by two officers, as opposed to one, previously.