Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly also said Wednesday that Mr. Ortiz, who is still in custody, had 14 previous arrests.

Officer Brennan was reportedly in critical but stable condition and in pain on Wednesday, Commissioner Kelly said.

[7online.com]

The commissioner’s face was stoic, betraying no emotion to the assembled members of the print and television media gathered in the lobby of Bellevue Hospital Center late Tuesday night.

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly at Bellevue Hospital Center Tuesday Night

Just minutes before Mr. Kelly arrived to the podium with Mayor Mike Bloomberg, those members of the press exchanged anecdotes to one another about their work covering the alleged rape case involving Greg Kelly, Mr. Kelly’s son and a well-known TV personality on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.”

There was no mention of Greg’s name in the press conference. Instead, the commissioner calmly laid out the circumstances surrounding the shooting of 29-year-old Officer Brennan, a six-year veteran of the force, who chased a suspect into the hallway of the Bushwick Houses in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and narrowly escaped death.

At 9 p.m. this evening, Officer Brennan and two other officers, all plainclothes members of Brooklyn Patrol Borough North’s anti-crime unit, were responding to radio calls of shots fired in the vicinity of 140 Moore Street.

When responding, they encountered three individuals fleeing from that location and the officers gave chase. Officer Brennan followed one individual whom all three officers recognized from “past encounters,” said Mr. Kelly.

That man, later identified as 21-year-old Luis “Baby” Ortiz, ran into the rear entrance of 370 Bushwick Avenue, part of the Bushwick Houses, a housing project, with Officer Brennan running behind him.

In a very short distance between the two, Mr. Ortiz “turned and fired one shot, striking officer Brennan in the base of the skull,” said Mr. Kelly.

Officer Brennan fired one shot in return, which was believed to not have struck Mr. Ortiz.

As this was happening, Officer Brennan’s two colleagues had difficulty opening the door to the rear entrance of 370 Bushwick Avenue that apparently closed after Officer Brennan followed Mr. Ortiz inside the building, Mr. Kelly said. The two heard both shots being fired and forced the door open, discovering the wounded Officer Brennan on the ground.

Mr. Ortiz then escaped to the fifth floor of the building as responding members of the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit started their search for the young suspect.

He was later arrested in apartment 5A in 390 Bushwick Avenue, a building close to where the shooting took place. Mr. Kelly said that Mr. Ortiz was also wanted for questioning in connection with a homicide that happened earlier in January.

Officer Brennan, meanwhile, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center. There, Dr. Ronald Simon and his staff of trauma surgeons used fluid and pressure to excrete the bullet from just behind his right ear, said Dr. Eli Kleinman, the supervising chief surgeon of the NYPD.

He was conscious throughout the entire procedure, said Mr. Kelly, and was later joined by Officer Brennan’s parents and wife Janet, who just 6 weeks ago gave birth to a baby girl named Maeve.

In a macabre moment during the press conference, Mr. Kelly asked Dr. Kleinman to hand him the plastic container holding the bullet.

Mr. Kelly took the plastic evidence bag from Dr. Kleinman and removed the container, its insides bloody from the bullet that had been just moments ago been removed from Officer Brennan’s skull.

“He is one lucky young man,” said Mr. Kelly, holding the container up for the press to see.

Indeed, Officer Brennan was lucky. On December 12th in Cyprus Hills, Brooklyn, Police Officer Peter J. Figoski and his partner were responding to calls of a robbery in progress when he was shot in the face by suspect Lamont Pride as he was trying to escape.

The bullet struck Officer Figoski below his left eye and exited the back of his head. He was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead five hours after being shot.

Officer Brennan, who was alert and talking with doctors and his visitors following his surgery, was expected to make a full recovery.

For Mr. Kelly, the shooting was just the latest test in a particularly trying period in his otherwise vaunted tenure as police commissioner. His son, recently accused of rape, is being investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. He and Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Paul Browne caught the ire of the Muslim community for Mr. Kelly’s appearance in “The Third Jihad,” a controversial documentary on American Muslims (which Mr. Browne gave conflicting statements explaining Mr. Kelly’s involvement in the film).

But there, in his hands, was a container holding that bullet that nearly claimed the life of another one of his men. Luckily for Officer Brennan and for Mr. Kelly, Mr. Ortiz had aimed poorly.

drosen@observer.com

Early Monday morning, Officer Peter J. Figoski, 47, was shot in the face after responding to a robbery in progress in Cyprus Hills, Brooklyn. He was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.

Then, hours later, video emerged of police jawing with (and pushing) NY Times photographer Robert Stolarik during an Occupy Wall Street protest inside The World Financial Center Monday morning. News sites, including this one, were quick to scorn the NYPD for seemingly breaking their earlier pledge to let reporters do their jobs.

Police Officer Peter J. Figoski

But no matter how disagreeable the actions of the officers in this video may be, it does not – or should not – detract from the terrible death of a career NYPD cop and loving father of four girls who was killed as he was doing his job.

At 2:15 Monday morning, Officer Figoski and partner Officer Glenn Estrada were responding as backup to calls of a robbery at a basement apartment inside 25 Pine Street.

Lamont Pride, 27, and a fellow burglar – or “thug,” in tabloid parlance – emerged from a dark room inside the apartment and tried to escape. Mr. Pride's accomplice tussled with Officer Estrada in front of the building while Mr. Pride tried to flee as well, running into Office Figoski instead.

With little hesitation, Mr. Pride fired his 9mm Ruger semi-automatic once at Officer Figoski's face.

The bullet struck Officer Figoski below his left eye and exited the back of his head, according to The New York Times.

Mr. Pride then fled on foot and Officer Estrada gave chase, letting the other suspect he had been grappling with escape. Officer Estrada eventually arrested Mr. Pride following a four-block pursuit.

While Officer Figoski was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, two of his four daughters were reportedly flown in by helicopter from their colleges in upstate New York. His other two daughters, both high school students in the West Babylon, Long Island town where the Figoski family lived, were also rushed to the hospital with their mother, Paulette.

Officer Figoski, a 22-year veteran of the force assigned to the 75th Precinct, was pronounced dead five hours after being shot.

He became the first officer to die after being shot in the line of duty since July 9, 2007, when Russel Timoshenko, 23, died from gunshot wounds sustained while conducting a traffic stop in Crown Heights.

He also became the second police officer to be killed in the line of duty since March 13, when Alain Schaberger was pushed over a stoop while making an arrest.

The three men involved in Officer Timoshenko's death were arrested four days after his shooting.

It took cops less than 24 hours to arrest four people wanted in connection with Officer Figoski's slaying, including the suspect who escaped after fighting with Officer Estrada.

As this story will evidence, it's not easy being a good cop, which Officer Figoski clearly was (he received a medal for arresting a person wanted for a livery cab robbery and recovered the gun used in the crime, according to The NY Times).

Despite the increased scrutiny being placed on the Department following a year marked by the Bronx ticket scandals, OWS arrests, and other police misdeeds, one truth is unavoidable:

A good cop's death is not just a loss for the NYPD, but for all of New York City.

drosen@observer.com