[UPDATE] Salon Robbery Suspect Arrested, Off-Duty Cop Praised

Police have arrested suspect Winston Cox, 19, in connection with a shooting that took place at a Bedford-Stuyvesant hair salon on Saturday. Police say Cox entered Sabine's Hallway beauty salon and attempted an armed robbery. However, off-duty NYPD officer Feris Jones happened to be getting her hair done at the time, and confronted the thug. Jones fired at Cox after he shot at her, and Cox fled after he had been hit.

Police found Cox at a building on Pacific Street, and he was taken to Woodhull Hospital to be treated for wounds on his hands that he most likely got when Jones shot at him. Charges are pending against Cox, but a friend of his told the Times that he was most likely motivated by financial troubles. “He was struggling,” she said. “He has a baby on the way." The building owner also said Cox must have been a "complete idiot," as there were only four people in the salon at the time, and there is never much cash in the register.

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly praised Jones's bravery, saying she, "demonstrated professionalism and remarkable calm in taking police action while off duty yesterday and foiling an armed robbery, and possibly worse." None of the salon patrons were harmed, but salon owner Sabine Bellevue believes that could have been different had Jones not been there. "Thank God the officer was there," she told the Daily News. "I'm just thankful to be alive. If the officer wasn't there, things could have gone very differently. He was fully loaded."

[UPDATE] It turns out Cox got those hand injuries when Jones shot his revolved right out of his hands. According to the Daily News, Cox had forced the four women in the salon into the bathroom so he could look for the salon owner's wallet in peace. Jones then emerged and identified herself as a cop as she held her gun at him. Cox shot four times, missing Jones, before Jones fired back and shot the gun out of Cox's hands, hitting his middle finger and grazing his left hand. Cox reportedly freaked out after that, grabbing his gun and a bag with two wallets inside, kicking the glass out of the door and crawling away on his hands and knees.