MANHATTAN — A police officer was shot in the foot outside Harlem Hospital Monday morning after a handcuffed man he was escorting grabbed his partner's gun and fired, officials said.
Officer Fausto Gomez, of the 25th Precinct, struggled with the man outside the hospital's emergency room entrance, near 135th Street and Lenox Avenue, about 5:30 a.m., FDNY and NYPD officials said.
"He is all right, treated, and has already been released," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during a press conference.
Gomez and his partner John Chiodi picked up Guyteau Idore near 117th Street and Lexington Avenue after he was seen throwing bottles in the middle of the street, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said during the press conference.
Idore, whose hands were chained behind him, was taken in an ambulance to Harlem Hospital for a psychological evaluation, Kelly said at the conference. Police later arrested and charged Idore, 41, of West 135th Street, with attempted murder, robbery and assault.
Idore tried to escape when the officers were taking out of the ambulance, but they subdued him and walked him toward the hospital, Kelly said.
As they neared the entrance, Idore "somehow managed to remove officer Chiodi's service weapon and fire that two times," Kelly said.
"It was loud. Then all the cops came running down. It was chaos," said Luis Perez, a street vendor who was nearby at the time, said he heard the shots.
Brendon Hernandez, a quick-thinking EMT who was helping with the transport, grabbed the weapon from Idore's hands, Kelly said.
"I was scared. I was scared for my safety, for my partner's safety, especially the cops and also people walking by. The bullet could've gone anywhere," Hernandez said afterward.
"I just ran up and grabbed it out of his hand. It was instinct."
Hernandez hopes to one day join the NYPD, Kelly said.
"He has demonstrated he certainly has what it takes to do the job," Kelly said. "We congratulated him, thanked him and are going to look into his situation, where he is on the eligible list. We'll get back to him today with that information."
Idore, who has been arrested several times for assaults and domestic disputes, was detained again and taken to Metropolitan Hospital for a psychological evaluation, cops said.
Gomez was treated for a graze wound at Harlem Hospital after the shooting, officials said.
Police said they would continue to investigate the situation.
"I don't know how he managed to get a gun. Thank goodness is was nothing more serious than that," Bloomberg said.
"We'll do an investigation, but as Ray said, it looks like the police officers acted appropriately.''
