Suffolk Officer Recovering After Being Shot By Robbery Suspect: Police

CORAM, NY — A Suffolk police officer is recovering at Stony Brook University Hospital after he was shot in the thigh by a robbery suspect in Coram on Thursday afternoon, police said.

The officer, who was not named, had been part of a team assigned to surveil 20-year-old Coram resident Jennel Funderburke, who was suspected of taking part in a burglary on Homestead Drive two days before, Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said.

Funderburke has been identified as a Bloods gang member and has had "several contacts with police," including an arrest from last August for criminal possession of a weapon, according to Harrison.

Funderburke is facing charges of first-degree robbery, as well as aggravated attempted murder, Harrison said.

It was not immediately clear if he has legal representation.

The officer is a six-year veteran who is the father of an infant and plans to get married.

"We ask you to keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers," Harrison said.

Harrison complimented the officers who responded to the officer's location and were able to provide first aid, "as well as the great work by the men and women here at Stony Brook University Hospital."

Though he bemoaned the police department's presence at the hospital again in less than six months under "unfortunate circumstances with one of our police officers violently attacked."

Two officers were stabbed and a suspect was shot and killed in an altercation in Medford in December.

The officers were later released from the hospital.

Reiterating the words he said back in December, Harrison added, "This is just a reminder of how dangerous it is to be a police officer."

County Executive Steve Bellone described the call that the officer had been shot as "one you would not want to get in this position."

He described Funderburke as a "dangerous individual" who has been taken off the streets and prevented from hurting anyone else.

"We don't know," he said.

"But, we do know that person is off the streets because of these officers, because of the work that they do, and that they're doing every day largely unseen," he said. "It is heroic work."

Bellone expects the officer to be released from the hospital.

Suffolk Legis. Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue) represents the Coram area where the shooting took place and has been working to address community concerns about crime since taking office in 2022.

"It is a shame that a select few insist on trying to destroy the neighborhood," he said.

Suffolk Police Benevolent Association President Noel DiGerolamo called the officer's survival miraculous.

"Only by the grace of God are we not burying an angel from God who dedicated his life to law enforcement and is willing to sacrifice his life for people he has not met," he said.

The shooting unfolded just before 1 p.m.

Officers in four vehicles, including two marked and two unmarked, were surveilling Funderburke, when he emerged from a home on Norfleet Lane and then bolted upon catching a glimpse of them, Harrison said.

The officer, who was in plainclothes, got out of his car and ran after Funderburke onto Homestead Drive, identified himself, and then ordered him to stop, but Funderburke waved a gun then fired two shots with one of the bullets striking the officer's upper right thigh, according to Harrison.

The officer was saved by his teammates' applying two tourniquets to his leg to stop the bleeding, Harrison said.

He is now under the care of the department's surgeon, Dr. James Vosswinkel.

Funderburke was later found at a home on Homestead Drive and engaged in a roughly 20-minute standoff with officers from the 6th Precinct before he voluntarily surrendered, Harrison said.

DiGerolamo called the 20-year-old "a career criminal who has been allowed to victimize" people, referencing the bail reform law by which Funderburke was released as part of the "disastrous policies" by the state and leaders from the "radical left."

He said the shooting was "another stark example of the failed polices" by "incompetent state officials who continue to put a priority on criminals and not the law-abiding citizens and the law-abiding officers who risk their lives on a daily basis."

He added: "We will not stop fighting against this injustice until people of sound mind are elected to office and put law-abiding citizens first."

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.