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An NYPD officer shot and wounded in Queens on Tuesday night, November 19, was met with cheers and applause from fellow officers as he was wheeled out of Jamaica Hospital early Wednesday afternoon.

Officer Rich Wong and a female bystander both sustained leg wounds during an exchange of gunfire around 161st Street and Jamaica Avenue involving police and 57-year-old suspected robber Gary Worthy, who was pursued and fatally shot by NYPD officers.

Before being killed, Worthy had carried out two armed robberies and discharged his firearm during both incidents, Mayor Eric Adams told a press conference Tuesday night. The mayor said the shooting was a “stark reminder of the danger that men and women of the NYPD run towards every day” and described Worthy as a “reckless perpetrator” who showed “complete disregard for human life.” He said Worthy was a “violent, repeated offender” who had “prior gun arrests, who pled guilty to manslaughter” and who had been arrested seven times since leaving prison in 2021.

NYPD Interim Commissioner Tom Donlon, who spoke after Adams, said both Wong and the bystander, a 26-year-old woman who had been shopping in the area, were expected to make a full recovery. Credit: NYPD via Storyful