A DONEGAL police officer has been shot in the head while chasing a criminal in New York.
Kevin Brennan, 29, is recovering in hospital today after life-saving surgery removed a bullet from his skull.
The NYPD officer was shot on Tuesday night while responding to a series of shots fired in a housing complex in Brooklyn.
He is in a critical but stable condition after undergoing life-saving surgery.
He had asked about his new born baby, Maeve, when he arrived at the hospital after the shooting.
“We were at the hospital, he was still bandaged and getting CAT-scanned,” according to Kevin’s brother-in-law Robert Masi in the New York Post.
“He was conscious and talking. He asked for his daughter. She was definitely the first thing on his mind. This is something you think about and hope never happens. And when it does you have to circle the wagons and hope for the best.
“He’s a great guy, he’s a dedicated police officer,” continued Masi of his brother-in-law, who has served for the NYPD since 2005. “He puts his life on the line every day.”
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly dubbed Kevin “one lucky young man” while New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg remarked: “God in this case was kind.It could have turned out an awful lot worse.” Kevin’s doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
The 21-year-old gunman was arrested in an apartment complex close to the scene just two hours after the shooting.
Kevin and two colleagues were responding to reports of shots being fired when they encountered three individuals fleeing a building.
While giving chase, one of the men turned and fired a shot which struck Kevin in the head. An eyewitness stated: “The hurt cop kept yelling, ‘I got hit! I got hit!’ He was bleeding from the mouth.”
A black revolver with a brown handle was found on the ground outside the building.
“Tonight we have someone who have someone who has dedicated his life to protecting all of us, who has had a much too close brush with death,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the hospital, adding that Brennan had told the mayor about his 6-week-old daughter. “Thankfully tonight I think there’s no reason to think [Maeve’s] daddy won’t be there to see her crawl for the first time and, in good time dance at her wedding.”
