A Suffolk County officer who was part of a surveillance team was shot and wounded Thursday afternoon in Coram.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison says officers were conducting surveillance outside of a home with a robbery suspect inside at around 1 p.m.
He says that when the suspect noticed the officers, he began to flee. An officer then exited his vehicle and pursued him on foot.
That officer demanded the suspect stop on Homestead Drive, but the suspect did not comply and fired two rounds at the officer, according to police.
Harrison says the officer was hit once in the upper right thigh. Other officers at the scene came to his aid and applied two tourniquets to the wound, which doctors say stopped him from bleeding out.
The wounded officer was rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital where he is in stable condition but will likely require surgery.
Harrison said officers at the scene had a 20-minute standoff with the suspect, identified as Janell Funderburke, who eventually came out voluntarily and was arrested without further incident.
"Because of the heroic efforts of members of the Suffolk County Police Department and this officer who was injured, and shot in the line of duty today, there is a dangerous individual who is off the streets," says Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
Police say the suspect is a known Bloods gang member and has one prior arrest for weapon possession in August. Authorities say Funderburke had a gun while in a car, which caught fire during a police chase.
Police pulled Funderburke and three other people from the burning vehicle.
Harrison says Funderburke will be charged with robbery and attempted murder of the officer.
The officer's name has not been released but Harrison said he is a six-year veteran of the force, is engaged to be married and has a 17-month-old daughter.
