New York State Police suspend a trooper while investigating his account of being shot and wounded

NEW YORK (AP) — New York State Police on Monday suspended a trooper without pay after launching an investigation into his account of being shot and wounded while attempting to help a motorist on a Long Island highway last week — an incident that prompted a manhunt for the purported gunman.

The decision was announced after officers executed a search warrant at Trooper Thomas Mascia’s residence in West Hempstead earlier Monday as they probed the circumstances of the shooting he reported on Oct. 30.

State police also canceled an alert issued for a black Dodge Charger with a temporary New Jersey registration that the trooper said was involved in the shooting.

Department spokesperson Beau Duffy declined to comment further on the suspension.

“This remains an ongoing investigation, and further updates will follow,” the agency said in a statement posted earlier Monday on its website.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said her office is assisting state police in investigating “certain inconsistencies” in the reporting of the shooting. A spokesperson for her office declined to elaborate, saying the investigation is ongoing.

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Police on Monday closed off the West Hempstead road where Mascia lives and officers were seen entering his home.

Neighbors also told Newsday that investigators began knocking on doors to ask residents questions and seek doorbell camera footage Sunday.

Mascia, who was released from the hospital Friday, didn’t immediately respond Monday to email and phone messages seeking comment.

The New York State Police Benevolent Association, a union representing state troopers, said it is not involved in the investigation but is monitoring the situation.

New York State Police Superintendent Steven James said at a news conference last week that the shooting happened on the Southern State Parkway in West Hempstead, which is roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Manhattan in suburban Nassau County.

Mascia had been patrolling the parkway shortly before midnight when he observed a black sedan parked on the left-hand shoulder and went to offer assistance, James said.

But when he exited his patrol car, he said, he was met with gunfire and shot in the leg before the driver fled heading west in the direction of New York City.

The 27-year-old, who became a trooper in 2019, used a tourniquet to stem the bleeding until other officers arrived, James said.

Police at the time said there was no video footage of the incident the trooper’s body camera was not activated.

The camera activates automatically when the lights on a patrol car’s roof are fully turned on; Mascia reported only turning on the rear lights of the bar.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Cop Shot, a New York City group, offered a total of $15,000 in rewards for information about the shooting.