An NYPD officer who shot dead a career criminal despite being shot in a shootout on Tuesday night, November 19, was wheeled out of Jamaica Hospital to a huge round of applause from over 200 of New York’s Finest. Rich Wong is a seven-year veteran of the force who was shot in the thigh by Gary Worthy after the man with a long rap sheet pulled off a pair of armed robberies in Jamaica. However, despite being wounded, Wong gunned down Worthy, stopping his savage crime spree.
The majority of the honour guard was made up by Wong’s colleagues from the 103 Precinct, and there were mounted cops nearby. On being asked how he was feeling, the 36-year-old hero cop gave a thumbs up, while being flanked by his mother and his girlfriend.
“He didn’t know what he was going into,” NYPD PBA President Patrick Hendry said outside the hospital on Wednesday, November 20, according to New York Post. “He didn’t know he was going to confront a dangerous, evil individual who was arrested 17 times – and one of those arrests was for murder.”
“He didn’t think twice about shooting an NYPD police officer, but we’re thankful for the skill of our police officer, who was able to fire back and stop the threat,” Hendry added.
Before being confronted, Worthy, 57, allegedly robbed a bodega and a smoke shop on Guy Brewer Boulevard. When Wong and his partner spotted Worthy and asked him to stop, he fired one shot, hitting Wong in the thigh. An injured Wong fired back and hit Worthy in the face. The suspect was thus killed, and his crime spree stopped.
Who is Rich Wong?
Wong is reportedly a beloved fixture at his Queens stationhouse. He was less than two years on the job when he and his then-partner were called on to get involved in a rescue mission in Jamaica in 2019, an incident where four terrified kittens were trapped in a storm drain. Not only did the cops save the kittens, Wong even adopted one of them and named it Gulu, Chinese for a cat’s purr.
“He’s loved by his fellow police officers here in the 103 precinct,” Hendry said. “And his mindset is to get better and to be able to go back full duty and help the people of Jamaica, Queens, like he was doing.”
The shooting involving Worthy raised questions on why the suspect, a career criminal, was allowed to go back on the streets. Mayor Eric Adams responded to the incident too, saying he is “angry that a violent repeated offender who has prior gun arrests, who pled guilty to manslaughter and who was arrested for seven crimes since [2021] alone was free to commit two robberies tonight.”
Hendry, meanwhile, said, “They need to say someone’s on lifetime parole. You get arrested, you get remanded. You assault a New York City police officer, you get remanded until the case is finished. You shoot a New York City police officer, you get remanded. We ask all New Yorkers, rally around all police officers.”
