Correction officer injured in Queens party shooting

A correction officer has been injured during a Queens party shooting.

The Sunday party quickly came to an end when gunfire rang out at 214th Place and Jamaica Avenue in Queens. Police said a 23-year-old man pulled out a gun and pointed it at the crowd.

“In the crowd was an off-duty New York City correction officer, who saw the male pointing the gun,” NYPD Chief Jeff Maddrey told reporters late Sunday night.

Off-duty Correction Officer David Donegan pulled out his own gun and shot at the gunman at least five times, striking him once in the torso. Donegan was shot in his left leg by a second person who got involved in the shootout, police said.

“A third person did come to the hospital. We’re still investigating the connection, if he was here at this event,” said Maddrey.

“Wow I’m shocked. Last time something like this happened was like five, six years ago here,” Queens Village resident Joe Bishun said.

Donegan was deemed a hero by Mayor Eric Adams and the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, which said in a statement, “While the police investigation remains ongoing, one thing is crystal clear, had our officer not exercised his training and made a split-second decision, this incident could have cost many innocent people their lives, including his own. His actions were nothing short of heroic.”

Adams said the shooter shouldn’t have been on the streets in the first place, given his criminal past.

“One of them involves a robbery with a firearm. While on sentencing, he’s back on the street with a firearm,” the mayor said.

“They’re finding their way back on our street to continue to wreak havoc on innocent people.”

Officials said Donegan was treated and released from the hospital overnight.