An off-duty, 34-year-old NYPD sergeant assigned to a Queens precinct allegedly shot his wife’s personal trainer during a dispute at the sergeant’s Seaford, Long Island, home early Saturday morning, law enforcement sources said.
The sergeant, identified in published reports as Justin Ellis of the 103rd Precinct, has yet to be charged at this time, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office. Police officials now say Ellis is on modified status, pending further departmental investigation of the shooting.
Ellis came home just after midnight to find the 29-year-old personal trainer, whose name has not been provided, inside the home, according to police and sources.
Police officials could not comment on the record on what transpired next, but according to published reports, the personal trainer became embroiled in a dispute with Ellis. The trainer went to his vehicle to get a bat, returned to the home and was shot in the confrontation.
The man was taken to a local hospital, but was later released with a minor wound, police said.
Published reports say the man’s attorney has disputed the Nassau police account and says he was not wielding a bat but was with the sergeant’s wife in the home.
