By ANGELA MARSHALL
Being a police officer means being ready to put your life on the line and that's just what Officer Gregory John did last weekend. The 32-year-old Baldwin resident was shot Saturday, August 12 when attempting to enter the residence of a potentially "disturbed person" on Parkway Court in Brooklyn, according to police.
At press time, the officer remained in critical but stable condition at Kings County Hospital. Officer John was the first injured in a six-hour long siege that would leave three other police officers wounded, two hurt and the gunman dead.
"Police Officer John, who was the first officer shot, was sitting up and able to walk around today," said New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani during a press conference Sunday. The Mayor said the officer was in "good spirits" and working toward recovery.
Officer John was one of the first to arrive on the scene following a complaint at the 61st Precinct from the gunman's family at approximately 1:30 P.M. As the officers approached the house, Arthur Alalouf, 47, fired his shotgun hitting Officer John in the shoulder and tearing a whole through his "heavy vest and a secondary Kevlar vest," according to police.
The Mayor likened a blast from the shot gun used to injure Officer John and three others to "being shot at nine times by a 33 caliber firearm."
He continued saying that the work of Officer John , who continued to shoot despite his injury, and others forced Mr. Alalouf to leave behind a loaded assault rifle with extra rounds on the kitchen table when he fled the house -- move the definitely saved lives, according to the Mayor. "It's a devastating weapon."
The perpetrator hid in a neighbor's garage until the final shoot out hours later left him dead.
Police found a cache of weaponry, including five rifles, two mini 14 assault rifles, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, four pistols and dozens of samurai swords in his home. Some of the weapons are reported to have been purchased as late as Friday of last week.
Mr. Alalouf lived in his parents home and, according to the Mayor, was "somewhat of a hermit."
"I also want to commend all the police officers," the Mayor said, "for doing an absolutely superb job yesterday in the professional and brave and very, very sensible way in which they handled this, which is the absolute only reason why we come away with it hopefully without any loss of innocent human life."
"This focuses us all on just how easy it is for a maniac like this to get a gun. It shouldn't be that way," the Mayor said. "I think we all feel that the control of the sale of firearms should be more regulated. I wouldn't want to see anyone able to buy weapons like this."
Officer John is a ten-year member of Brooklyn's 61st Precinct having joined the
station in 1990. He lives in Baldwin with his wife, Karen, two daughter and a son. The other officers who were shot include Joseph Ocasio, Jose Guerra and James McGrath. Two other officers were hurt during the incident.
