The NYPD cop shot in an ambush by a brazen gunman in the Bronx left Lincoln Hospital and returned home to a hero’s welcome Sunday.
Police Officer Paul Stroffolino, 31, was wheeled out of the Bronx hospital to applause from scores of New York Finest — a bandage visible on the right side of his neck — before acknowledging the cops and jumping into a waiting Ford Taurus for a ride home to Orange County.
“Despite being shot in the chin & neck last night, Police Officer Stroffolino goes home today, giving his fellow officers — & everyone we serve — an inspirational thumbs-up,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said on Twitter. “We thank him for his heroic service to our city, and wish him a speedy recovery.”
Stroffolino arrived at his ranch-style home in Warwick in Orange County shortly before 1:30 p.m.
The eight-year NYPD veteran, who was surrounded by friends and family, declined to comment.
Warwick police, Orange County sheriff’s deputies and state police kept reporters away from the home. A towel was draped over the mailbox outside the house to shield the home’s address.
“He’s a good kid,” neighbor Michael DeFrancis, 81, told The Post. “He always wanted to be a cop. I was happy to hear he was going to do it. He came and told me years ago, ‘I’m gonna join the NYPD. He was all excited. I told him, ‘go for it.'”
Stroffolino was grazed in the chin and neck when police said a cop-hating gunman walked up to their patrol van on East 163rd Street and Fox Street around 8:30 p.m. Saturday and opened fire.
His partner drove him to Lincoln, where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries and released.
Police believe the same suspect, Robert Williams, walked into the 41st Precinct station house on Sunday morning and opened fire, wounding a police lieutenant before being taken into custody.
