The cop wounded by a gunman inside a Bronx apartment fired the rounds that killed the perp, police investigators believe. Even though Officer Robert Salerno had been hit twice—his Kevlar vest halted a third shot to the chest—the three-year NYPD veteran unloaded his 16-round clip, striking Santiago Urena in the the abdomen, shoulder, and temple, police officials told the Post.
Salerno, 25, was responding to reports of an armed man when he barged into Urena's apartment in the Morrisania Air Rights houses in the South Bronx. Urena was reportedly angry because a home-health worker turned down his romantic advances. When Salerno entered the apartment and kicked open the bedroom door at around 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Urena opened fire from less than two feet away, striking the cop twice in the lower torso. Salerno returned fire, while his partner, Officer Robert Klein, provided covering shots so officers Daniel Robbins and Sean Fitzpatrick could drag the wounded policeman to safety.
Doctors removed a part of Salerno's small intestine and operated on his bladder. A source told the Daily News that doctors expect him to make a full recovery. He still can't talk because he's "intubated," according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, but he's been writing notes calling the officers who pulled him from the apartment "heroes." "He's doing OK, in a little pain," said his father, Joseph Salerno. "He's out of the woods, but has a long recovery ahead."
