QUEENS — A pair of police officers shot a burglary suspect in Jamaica Monday after he whacked one of the lawmen in the head with a metal object that may have been a crowbar or hammer, police said.
The officer, who police said was not seriously injured, was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, with cuts to his head. The other officer was also taken to the hospital for examination, police said. Both were released Monday afternoon, police sources said.
The two officers fired at the suspect, striking him twice, once in the left wrist and once in the left thigh, police said.
The suspect was also taken to Jamaica Hospital, but his wounds were not life-threatening, police said.
The officers were responding to 911 report of a burglary just after 1 p.m. at a house on 142nd Street near 109th Avenue, police said.
They heard a woman screaming on the second floor, police said. They then went inside through an open back door and confronted the suspect in the living room, police sources said. There, the suspect attacked one of the officers with a crowbar or a hammer, the sources noted. Both tools were found at the scene.
Each officer fired one round, Chief of Detectives Bob Boyce said. Jewelry was found scattered around the home, he said.
The shooting comes on the heels of another incident in the precinct last month in which a man, who police said was inspired by Islamic terror groups, attacked four police officers patrolling Jamaica Avenue with a hatchet.
One was hit in the head and the other one in the arm before the suspect was gunned down.
