Suffolk County Constable Michael LaFauci was released from Stony Brook University Hospital on Thursday, May 18.
video Footage shared by the department showed the six-year veteran leaving the hospital in a wheelchair, alongside his fiancé and 17-month-old daughter, as dozens of officers saluted and a piper performed “God Bless America.”
The emotional scene comes just seven days after LaFauci was shot dead while monitoring a house in Coram, Homestead Drive, near Norfleet Lane, as part of an armed robbery investigation.
Gunman Jennel Funderburke, 20, of Colum, allegedly fired two shots at the officer during a chase, hitting him in the right thigh.
Other officers had to use tourniquets to stop the bleeding.
LaFauci underwent emergency surgery and his condition was upgraded from severe to fair three days later.
Funderburke, an alleged member of the Bloods street gang, was arrested shortly after the shooting and has since pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and first-degree robbery.
“Mike was just doing his job,” Suffolk County Police Chief Rodney Harrison told reporters outside the hospital on Thursday. “He’s trying to hold accountable the person who committed the robbery two days before this incident.”
James Vosswinkel, a doctor at Stony Brook University Hospital, described a 9mm hollow-point bullet “designed to cause maximum damage while tearing, tearing, pulling tissue” How to cross La Forge’s legs.
“We’re releasing him today,” Vosswinkel said. “It was so much more than drugs could do. It was an angel who watched over him, and it was a miracle, in one word or one understatement.”
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, who was also at Thursday’s send-off, told reporters: “One of our hero officers is going home today, and it’s important to all of us in our department. It’s a great day for all of us in our county.”
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