NEW YORK – A veteran Metropolitan Transportation Authority police officer was stabbed in the face Wednesday morning during a violent confrontation with a knife-wielding man at Jamaica station in Queens, officials said.
John Barnett, 45, was on a patrol on Sutphin Blvd. outside the station when without provocation an emotionally disturbed man walked up to him and slashed him under his left eye, MTA Chairman Joesph Lhota told reporters,
Barnett, who has been a MTA officer for 13 years and is a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, repeatedly told the man to drop his knife and when he didn’t, Barnett fired four times, killing the man, Lhota told reporters.
“In a split second, he confronted a violent person, an individual who posed a threat directly to him and to everyone around the officer. I am absolutely in awe of his bravery,” Lhota said.
The incident happened just after 9 a.m. below the Long Island Rail Road platform at Jamaica Station, CBS 2’s Amy Dardashtian reported.
Witness Steven Lopez thought the sound of the gunshot was a blown tire before several more shots followed.
“We heard a gunshot,” Lopez said. “Then we heard two shots in a row that echoed so loud that it became so clear that it was an actual gunshot.”
“I just heard three shots, I thought it was firecrackers at first,” one witness said.
Family members and officers rushed to Jamaica Hospital to be with Barnett, whose injuries are described as serious but non-life threatening. He is not expected to lose his eye, D’Auria reported.
“Today we are reminded once again of the bravery and sacrifice of our men and women in law enforcement, and the many dangers that accompany the important job of keeping our state’s residents safe,” Cuomo said in a statement. “We applaud Officer Barnett’s bravery and pray for a full recovery.”
Undercover police officers are canvassing the area showing people a picture apparently looking for another person of interest, Dardashtian reported.
The investigation is ongoing.
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