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Officer Injured in Hatchet Attack Transferred Out of Jamaica Precinct

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | December 21, 2015 4:31pm
 Officer Kenneth Healey returned to work in December after more than a year of rehabilitation.
Officer Kenneth Healey returned to work in December after more than a year of rehabilitation.
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NYPD

QUEENS — The rookie police officer who was hit in the head by a man wielding a hatchet has been moved from his Jamaica precinct to another undisclosed command, according to police officials.

Officer Kenneth Healey, 25, suffered a skull fracture after the Oct. 2014 attack and had to undergo two reconstruction surgeries. He recently returned to work following more than a year of rehabilitation, and was initially put on desk duty at the 103rd Precinct.

But after about two weeks, Healey was “moved to another command,” the precinct wrote in an email sent to community members last Friday.

“We wish him well in his career,” the email read.

Police sources said that “it was a very good transfer,” but declined to elaborate.

On Friday, Healey was officially welcomed back by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton during a promotion ceremony at One Police Plaza and received a standing ovation, according to published reports.

 

Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann, commanding officer of the 103rd Precinct, said at a community meeting in October that Healey's ultimate goal is to return to work at full duty.

Healey, who lives in Oceanside, Long Island, was among four rookie officers posing for a photo on Jamaica Avenue on Oct. 23, 2014, when they were attacked by hatchet-wielding Zale Thompson.

Police said Thompson was inspired by radical Islamic groups.

Before Thompson was killed by other officers, he hit Healey in the head and injured another lawman, Officer Joseph Meeker, 26, in the right arm.

Healey told NBC 4 New York he thought he was going to die.

The officer had his first surgery at Jamaica Hospital on the day of the attack. He underwent the second procedure at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, Long Island, in January. 

 

Officer Kenneth Healey was struck in the head last year while patrolling Jamaica Avenue (Photo credit: Getty Images).