Yet another horrible day in Nassau County, Long
Island (NY) where a Police Officer was gunned down---and that Officer was
also a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT. So while we don't
normally cover police LODD's, when the loss is related either in service
or in circumstances, we try to pass it on.
Cops hunted down the cold-blooded killer this
evening - after he gunned down the Officer this morning --
and he then slayed a random stranger in a highway carjacking. Hundreds of
detectives, cops, FBI and related officers from Nassau
County and the NYPD pursued fugitive ex-con Darrell Fuller after the
carnage — and the wounded suspect was busted this evening in his St.
Albans neighborhood.
Nassau County Police Officer Arthur Lopez, 29, of the elite NCPD
Emergency Services Unit, was shot and killed in the Line of Duty this morning
not far from the Belmont Park racetrack after a short car chase that followed a
separate hit-and-run crash...very close to the NYC line.
The driver of the fleeing silver Honda — which was running on its rims
— drove onto the Cross Island Parkway before exiting on Jamaica Ave.
Officer Lopez and his partner turned on the lights on their ESU
vehicle at about 1100 hours as the car turned onto 241st St. The car
pulled over and Officer Lopez approached the car and had a brief conversation
with suspect Fuller, 33, before the gunman fatally shot the officer in the
chest and sped off. “The officer’s just walking up to the car,”
eyewitness Paul Walcott said. “They just pulled out (a gun) and shot. He went right
down ... He went straight down.”
The officer was not wearing a bulletproof vest. The eight-year veteran
died at North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital. “He leaves grieving parents
... you should hear the screams of his mother,” said Nassau County Executive Ed
Mangano. “He lost his life to a cold-blooded murderer.”
As the dying officer’s partner tried to save him, the armed suspect
drove back onto the Cross Island Parkway and forced another vehicle off the
road. That driver had been speaking with his daughter on the phone when Fuller
approached and shot him once in the head from point-blank range. The man was
killed....shot by suspect Darrell Fuller on the Cross Island Parkway and
Jamaica Avenue. The victim was driving a Honda when the suspect allegedly
pulled him over and shot him after fatally shooting the Nassau County
police officer. “(The victim) was talking to his daughter on the phone,” said
Flynn Brown, who lent the victim her car. “He said, ‘Someone is chasing me,’
and that’s the last thing she heard.”
The double-murder dirtbag then jumped into the dead man’s car and sped off,
only to abandon it a short distance away and take off on foot. Fuller, of
Queens, shed a grey hoodie as he sprinted away from the stolen vehicle. The
double-murder suspect did five years for a 2004 attempted murder conviction,
and was later arrested for violating his parole. His most recent arrest was in
March 2010 for criminal possession of a controlled substance in Nassau County.
Cops and FBI agents spread across a Queens neighborhood in search of Darrell
Fuller, the gunman in the killing of police officer Arthur Lopez and the
random motorist. Fuller had a gunshot wound when he was hunted down and
arrested on 111th Ave. It was unclear if the bullet wound was self-inflicted or
had been fired by Lopez.
It was the second Line of Duty death of an on-duty Nassau cop in a week.
NCPD Highway Patrolman Joseph Olivieri was killed last Thursday during a
traffic accident allegedly caused by a drunken driver. Officer Lopez
started as a patrol officer in the 1st Precinct eight years ago and was
promoted to the Emergency Service Unit in January 2010. He was also
previously a Firefighter/EMT with the Dix Hills Fire Department in nearby
Suffolk County. He is survived by his sister, father and mother.RIP.
This evening in Chester County, PA, 2 responding fire
apparatus collided with one another while responding to a report of an outside
gas odor. Apparatus from the Upper Chichester Ogden Fire Company E-55 and
Reliance Fire Company E-61 crashed and the officer of E-55 was reportedly
trapped in the crash - but thankfully the injuries are now reported to be
non-life threatening. We'll post more later.
=CHARGES: NO COMMAND, CONTROL OR ACCOUNTABILITY: Florida Chief
Officer Suspended
While it happens more than anyone would care to admit,
rarely is action taken when the issues of command, control and accountability
are not strictly lead. In this case, an Estero fire officer (Lee County,
Florida) is off the job, accused of breaking protocol and putting lives in
danger. Battalion Chief Jeannine Horton is accused of forgetting about a crew
inside a major brush fire that shut down Interstate 75 in July. "We have
to know where everybody is at at any moment in the event that something happens,"
Estero Assistant Fire Chief Mark Wahlig said. 9-year Estero Fire veteran
Jeannine Horton was in charge of her own employees, as well as crews from other
agencies. "It's an incredibly big responsibility. They are the sole
responsible figure for the district in the absence of any other chief
officer," Wahlig said.
According to the investigative report, Battalion Chief Horton left the
scene before accounting for all resources, leaving a San Carlos Fire crew stuck
in the woods without any backup. Chief Horton admitted to taking a media member
to get a closer look at the damage. "That's horrible. That's horrible for
us. It's one thing, accidents can always happen, but accountability, when it
comes to a brush fire, structure fire, it's of utmost importance," Wahlig
said.
=FIREFIGHTER CLOSE CALL VIDEO:
And in northern Florida, Jacksonville companies
were called to multiple homes on fire around 0200 hours. As Firefighters
were attempting to fight the fire, a burst hoseline reportedly
allowed the fire to roll over and behind the crew....the Firefighters
bailed out of the dwelling and narrowly escaped this close call. An
excellent "what would you do" (before, during and after) video for
review...
