The police officers who were stabbed by a knife-wielding madman in Queens were released from the hospital Sunday evening to a chorus of applause by fellow cops.
One of the officers, a 28-year police veteran, emerged from Jamaica Hospital in a wheelchair, waving as a legion of cops clapped for the man who is now being hailed as a hero. Authorities did not release the names of the injured officers.
According to police brass, the unnamed cop and his partner rushed to a home in Far Rockaway during the early hours Sunday morning after a 16-year-old girl called 911 in a frenzy, telling the operator that her cousin was killing her family. When the cops arrived at the 467 Beach 22nd St. house, 38-year-old Courtney Gordon allegedly attacked the responding officers with a knife, striking one in the head and stabbing the veteran cop in the neck.
Despite his wounds, the cop of nearly three decades was able to reach for his firearm and shoot Gordon, killing him. It was only after the attack had taken place the true extent of Gordon’s heinous crimes became known.
Authorities discovered an 11-year-old girl tragically dead in front of the home while inside a 12-year-old boy, a 44-year-old woman, and a man believed to be in his 30s were all found dead with stab wounds to their bodies.
Both officers survived the attack, with them being discharged Sunday night. Their brothers and sisters in blue assembled outside of Jamaica Hospital where they saluted their heroic actions.
“They walked into sheer terror, they walked into a person who really tried to take their lives,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said while visiting the injured officers. “When you think about this time of the year, these young children were taken away so early, such a terrible, terrible situation. But these officers, no matter what they went through, they showed their professionalism. They showed their training, and they were able to stop that threat.”
Despite the trauma, the veteran cop offered a wave to the officers who gathered to show their solidarity before being whisked away.
“We are thankful for the nurses, the doctors, the entire staff here in Jamaica hospital for their incredible work. But this is a tough day,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said. “We’re not going to celebrate so many lives lost. A whole family wiped out. But today’s shows why we need our highly trained, highly skilled police officers like these.”
