UPDATE A Paramus police officer on loan to Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotic Task Force was in stable condition at Hackensack University Medical Center following a brief shootout during a $400 undercover marijuana buy outside the city Walmart this afternoon, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said, confirming an earlier CLIFFVIEW PILOT report.
A suspect who also was shot in the arm and leg was in taken to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson, he said.
Garfield Walmart, Passaic Street
The nine-year Paramus PD veteran sustained an ankle fracture, among other injuries, after being shot once in the left side and once in the foot, Molinelli confirmed late this afternoon.
“His condition is stable and his family hasn’t been notified yet,” Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said at a news conference at HUMC late this afternoon.
Dr. Joseph Feldman, the director of the HUMC trauma unit, said the officer was in surgery and was expected to recover fully from his injuries.
“It was an average street drug buy,” Molinelli said. “Narcotics, even in this county, is a dangerous practice.
“The officers were prepared, and when things fell apart they came in and did their jobs,” the prosecutor said. “It was done perfectly, with both backup teams.
“No one ever goes in alone to make a drug buy.”
Although the suspect initially was thought to have more serious injuries, a source said he was expected to survive.
He and another suspect were immediately taken into custody after the drug buy went bad around 1:45 p.m. outside the Marshals store on Passaic Street.
New Jersey State Police caught the third on the Garden State Parkway.