Narcotics Detective Shot, 19-Year-Old Killed in Close-Range Bronx Gun Battle

A detective was wounded and a teenage gunman was killed when they struggled and then shot each other at close range inside a Bronx apartment building yesterday afternoon, police and city officials said.Detective Romeo Baloy, 42, a decorated 18-year veteran, was shot in the right hand and thigh at 2:35 p.m. at Wakefield. He was taken to Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. Gayle Duran, 19, was shot in the face and other parts of his body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.“This officer put his life on the line to get guns off the street and to make the city safer,” Mayor Bloomberg said after visiting Detective Baloy with Po lice Commissioner Raymond Kelly at the hospital. After his initial treatment, Detective Baloy was transferred to Bellevue Hospital to undergo microsurgery on his hand.Detective Baloy, a plainclothes narcotics detective, was driving to Bronx Criminal Court to drop off paperwork related to an arrest from the previous day when he spotted Duran walking with a gun on White Plains Road, police said. Detective Baloy pulled over in his unmarked car and followed Duran. Duran determined that Detective Baloy was a police officer and ran inside a four-story apartment building that he frequented at 4727 White Plains Rd. Detective Baloy, who has made 285 arrests during his career with the department, followed Duran inside.“Detective Baloy followed the suspect up two-and-a-half flights of stairs to a landing, where Duran first struck Detective Baloy on the head,” Mr. Kelly said.The two men shot each other at close range. When the smoke cleared, Duran was dead and Detective Baloy, who was wounded, called 911.Luz Fernandez was in her apartment when the gunfight broke out down the hall. “I just heard shots, that’s all,” said Ms. Fernandez, who is 32. “I heard it inside the building.”Ms. Fernandez then heard sirens, looked out the window, and saw police.“I saw they took out a man that was shot and he was bleeding, and they put him in the police car,” said Ms. Fernandez.Ms. Fernandez said the police cruiser then sped away, and she decided to stay inside her apartment.“I was scared, because I had to pick up my daughter from school and there were police officers everywhere,” said Ms. Fernandez.An employee of Allstate Insurance who works nearby and did not want to be named said the area was quickly dominated by responding officers.“The only thing I heard was the sirens going, and there were a lot of police officers,” the employee said. “These sort of things happen all over.”Wakefield is the city’s northernmost neighborhood and is located in the 47th Precinct, which has had 18 homicides so far this year. The most recent murder occurred yesterday, when Michael Young, 28, was pronounced dead at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital from a gunshot wound to the chest.

Narcotics Detective Shot, 19-Year-Old Killed in Close-Range Bronx Gun Battle

Narcotics Detective Shot, 19-Year-Old Killed in Close-Range Bronx Gun Battle

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