SOUTH OZONE PARK — A Bronx priest was hit in the arm by a stray bullet during a drive-by shooting in Queens on Sunday, according to police and the Archdiocese of New York.
The bullet struck Father Damien Ekete just after midnight on Sunday by 134th Street and Rockaway Boulevard in Queens, and EMS took him to Jamaica Hospital, where he was in stable condition, according to the NYPD and the archdiocese.
Ekete works at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Morris Heights, the archdiocese said.
The shooter was in an unidentified vehicle, and the 49-year-old priest was not the intended target of the attack, police said.
Ekete was released from the hospital and returned to his parish in the early afternoon on Sunday, according to Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese.
"He is doing OK," Zwilling said, "but taking things easy for the next few days."
Anyone with information about this assault is asked to call the NYPD's crime stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the crime stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577.
