The deranged, drunken patient who allegedly shot a Staten Island EMT in the back of an ambulance this week has been charged, cops said Friday.
Thomas McCauley, 37, was charged late Thursday with assault on an EMT and criminal possession of a weapon in connection to the Wednesday night shooting of Richard McMahon, 25, in the back of an ambulance, authorities said.
He was walked out of the 120th Precinct on Friday morning, police said.
McCauley — described in 911 calls as drunk and disorderly — was picked up Wednesday night outside Funkey Monkey Lounge in Port Richmond by EMTs from Richmond University Medical Center, authorities said.
The EMTs, including McMahon, placed McCauley in the back of the ambulance and proceeded toward the hospital.
About a mile into the transport, McCauley allegedly pulled a gun out of his waistband and fired a shot, striking McMahon in the shoulder.
“I was asking him questions in the back of the ambulance as we drove, you know, patient history,” McMahon told The Post Thursday. “I asked if he had any medications and he said that he had a psych history. So I asked him if he was suicidal and he said ‘yes.’”
McMahon was discharged from Richmond University Medical Center on Thursday. Paul Martinka“I was writing down the medications that he should have been taking and … I looked up and there was a gun pointed directly at me. I heard ‘Bang!’ and as the shot came out, I flinched,” said McMahon, who added that he was only three feet away from the suspect.
McMahon then yelled out, “I’m shot! I’m shot!” to his partner, who pulled over to the side of the road, he recounted.
“As she was coming around, I pulled the gun from his hands. I twisted it out of his hands and when she opened the door, I was still struggling with him,” the heroic EMT said.
McCauley fled out the back of the ambulance on foot but was caught with the help of a retired NYPD detective and off-duty Department of Sanitation Lt. Joseph Perrone, police said.
McMahon, whose injuries were non-life-threatening, was discharged from Richmond University Medical Center on Thursday.
A .38-caliber revolver was recovered at the scene. McCauley was also allegedly in possession of a knife and Mace, according to police.
In a Facebook post Thursday, the wounded EMT’s mother said that learning of her son’s close call was “the worst phone call a mom could get.”
“How does my son get SHOT doing his job trying to help people?” Kathy Rowan McMahon wrote. “He has the biggest heart and compassion for his job and patients!!”
A .38-caliber revolver was recovered at the scene. NYPD“Thankfully he’ll be ok!!”
