Shot Cop Gets Leg Amputated

Police Officer Eric Hernandez, the star of the NYPD football team, had part of his right leg amputated as his injured leg's condition worsened. Hernandez's right and left legs, as well as stomach, were shot when a fellow police officer, Alfredo Toro, appeared on the scene of a brawl at a Bronx White Castle. Hernandez had been beaten by a group inside the fast food joint, and was trying to leave when Toro came. It seems that Hernandez thought that Toro might be another attacker, and Toro shot when Hernandez did not put down his gun, not knowing he was a cop. A fourth member of the gang turned himself in as the lawyer for another man, Edwin Rivera, claimed his client was a hero for beating up Hernandez, saying the client thought Hernandez was a robber and might kill people at the White Castle; Commissioner Kelly said, "It was plain for anyone who saw the tape that Rivera initiated this cowardly attack."

And WNBC received cameraphone footage of the shooting, which is grainy, but it seems to show that Hernandez didn't drop his gun after hearing Officer Toro's yells. What's curious is that WNBC called the cop-on-cop gunfire "friendly fire" - getting shot three times doesn't sound friendly, and Toro did think Hernandez was a criminal. The "friendly fire" entry on Wikipedia explains that it's perhaps a misnomer of a term.