Give thanks that rookie NYPD Officer James Li is alive after a shootout with gun-toting thug.
Give thanks that New York cops like Li and his partner, Officer Randy Chow, are dedicated to facing the very real dangers that lurk on the streets.
Give thanks that the city is also blessed with public servants like EMTs Shaun Alexander and Khadija Hall, who happened to be off duty near the scene of the gunplay and leaped into action to tend to the wounded Li.
On standard patrol, Li and Chow saw two men board the back of a B46 bus in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. They did what they are supposed to. They moved to make a routine fare-beating collar. Only this turned out to by anything but routine.
Rashaun Robinson bolted because he was wanted on a narcotics warrant. Li gave chase. Robinson spun and opened fire with a .45 from a distance of about 10 feet. He hit Li in both legs. Li and Chow returned fire — both using professional restraint in a highly populated area. Li squeezed off five rounds and Chow only two. Other cops ran Robinson to ground.
Meanwhile, EMTs Alexander and Hall sprang into action.
“My job is my heart. It’s what I do,” said Hall. “I try and help anybody I can.”
More could not have been asked of any of these brave and selfless people.
