NYPD cop is shot in the arm during a shootout, extricating suspect before being convicted on firearms charges
- Officer Dennis Vargas, 32, was treated and discharged from Lincoln Center Hospital in Manhattan early Wednesday
- The suspect identified as 25-year-old Rameek Smith is now dead
- The shooting happened late Tuesday night, police officers said, after Vargas and his partner approached the suspect at 10:45 p.m. while on duty in the Bronx
The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Rameek Smith, died after the Bronx shooting, which occurred around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday
A New York City police officer was shot in the arm Tuesday night by a career criminal who was released ahead of a scheduled sentencing over a previous gun arrest, city officials said.
Officer Dennis Vargas, 32, was treated and released from Lincoln Medical Center early Wednesday after a heated exchange of fire left the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Rameek Smith, dead.
The shooting happened late Tuesday night, police officers said Wednesday, after Vargas and his partner spotted and approached the suspect around 10:45 p.m. while on duty in the Bronx neighborhood of Claremont.
Police say Smith – who was arrested in March 2020 for criminal possession of a firearm – then began running from officers, spurring Vargas and his partner in pursuit.
After about a block and a half, police said, Smith suddenly turned and pulled out a pistol, firing two shots at the officers, one of which hit Vargas.
Officers then returned fire and hit Smith in the head, police said on Wednesday. Police added that the suspect was initially stopped because he appeared to be carrying a gun.
Smith was arrested and then taken to a hospital where he later died, officials said.
A 9mm Glock was recovered from the scene, police said.
Officer Dennis Vargas, 32, was treated and released from Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx early Wednesday after a heated exchange of gunfire left the suspect, a career criminal who was released ahead of a scheduled sentencing over a previous gun arrest, dead
Dozens of officers and city officials – including Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell and new Mayor Eric Adams – gathered outside Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx early Wednesday to salute the wounded officer on his release just four hours after the deadly shooting.
Vargas, an eight-year veteran of the force, smiled and waved to colleagues and journalists after being wheeled out of the hospital.
Smith, who lives in a Staten Island homeless shelter, was last arrested at a Coney Island subway station in March 2020, police officers said, after officers who stopped the offender for fare evasion allegedly found a gun on him.
He was subsequently charged with criminal firearms possession – charges that were pending after his death.
He was also convicted of robbery in 2016, for which he received five years’ probation, officials said.
Police are investigating the Bronx Street crime scene where the shooting took place late Tuesday night
Following Vargas’ release early Wednesday, a press conference was held at the hospital to address the shooting, during which officers revealed Smith’s extensive criminal record and a pending criminal case.
During the address, in which both Sewell and Adams spoke, the NYPD commissioner slammed the city’s criminal justice system and called Smith a “dangerous criminal who shouldn’t have been on the streets of the Bronx or anywhere else.”
She added: “We are very lucky.”
Adams, who wore a suit that read “Stop Gun Violence” at last week’s Met Gala, echoed Sewell’s sentiment in his own speech, in which he slammed a city that allowed “a perpetrator with multiple arrests” to acquire a gun and to wear in the streets of his city.
‘Why wasn’t he in prison?’ asked an emotional Adams.