NYPD officer and bystander shot in Queens, suspect gunned down

An NYPD officer and a bystander were shot in Queens on Tuesday, November 19, and the alleged shooter was gunned down. Both the bystander and the officer are expected to recover.
Around 5:35 pm, officers responded to a 911 call reporting a robbery in progress at a bodega on Hillside Avenue. Cops were told that a man had threatened workers and customers with a firearm, and even fired one shot. Cops received a description of the suspect by witnesses, and it was broadcast over police radios.
While canvassing in the area just before 6:30 pm, police were flagged down by a witness who showed them a man who had allegedly just robbed a smoke shop on Guy Brewer Boulevard. NYPD Officer Rich Wong and his partner then approached the man, who fit the description of the suspect in the previously reported robbery, near 161st Street and Jamaica Avenue. When they asked the suspect to stop, he fired one shot, hitting Wong in the thigh. Wong, 36, then fired back and hit the suspect in the face. The suspect was taken to a local hospital, but was declared dead there.
According to police, a 26-year-old woman was also shot in the leg. However, it is unclear if she was shot by an NYPD officer or the suspect. She was taken to a local hospital, and is expected to be OK.
Wong, who has been with the NYPD for seven years, was also rushed to a local hospital for treatment. He is expected to survive. The department credited Wong’s partner for quickly taking him to the hospital, saving his life in the process.
The suspect in the shooting has been identified as Gary Worthy of Queens, CBS News reported. Police said Worthy had 17 previous arrests, including for murder, robbery, burglary and narcotics possession. He was on lifetime parole for firearms possession at the time of the shooting.
Worthy’s last arrest took place six days ago, for possession of felony narcotics and resisting arrest. He was eventually released on his own recognizance.
According to police, since Worthy was placed on lifetime parole in 2021, he has been arrested as many as seven other times. Worthy was also wanted for three additional gunpoint robberies in which he had fired shots, police said. These occurred on Halloween and November 15.
“We are grateful tonight, but we are also angry. We’re angry because we have witnessed in two days a criminal justice system that is failing New Yorkers and the good people of this city. Angry that a violent repeated offender who has prior gun arrests, who pled guilty to manslaughter and who was arrested for seven crimes since [2021] alone was free to commit two robberies tonight,” Mayor Eric Adams said following the incident.
“I want to be very clear – yet again, a violent criminal with absolutely no regard for human life decided to open fire on an NYPD officer in the middle of a busy New York City street. This extreme recklessness resulted in injuries to our officer and cost the suspect his life,” interim NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon said.