An NYPD officer has been released from the hospital after being shot early this morning in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.
Sources identified the shot officer as Miguel Soto, a seven-year veteran of the force. He was cheered on by family, friends and colleagues as he left Kings County Hospital with a smile on his face.
NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said at a
news conference Friday morning that the officer was more concerned about his two partners than himself.
Suspect Kelvin Stichel, 33, was taken into custody. Police say they were trying to find him for weeks on charges that include domestic armed robbery. On Friday morning, police say officers followed Stichel in an unmarked car, and then got out at Decatur Street to confront him, identifying themselves as officers and ordering Stichel to show his hands. That's when police say he fired about six rounds at the officers, who then returned fire.
Police say Stichel tried to flee but was apprehended just blocks from the scene of the shooting. They say his weapon was found in a garbage can.
Stichel has multiple prior arrests, including one for allegedly assaulting an officer.
This marks the first time an NYPD officer was shot in the line of duty this year.