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New York State Police are suspending a trooper while they investigate a report that he was shot and wounded
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New York State Police are suspending a trooper while they investigate a report that he was shot and wounded

NEW YORK (AP) — New York State Police suspended a trooper without pay Monday after launching an investigation into whether he was shot and wounded while trying to help a motorist on a Long Island Expressway last week.

Officers executed a search warrant at Trooper Thomas Mascia’s residence in West Hempstead earlier Monday as they investigated the circumstances of a shooting he reported on Oct. 30, prompting a manhunt for the alleged gunman .

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

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

“We cannot go into details while the investigation is ongoing,” he wrote in an email.

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

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

Neighbors said Newsday that investigators began knocking on doors to ask residents questions and look for doorbell camera footage on Sunday.

Mascia, who was discharged Friday, did not return phone messages seeking comment Monday.

Jeffrey Lichtman, an attorney representing the officer, said he is still gathering information about the case.

“Nothing to offer other than that at this time, unfortunately,” he wrote in an email.

The New York State Police Benevolent Association, a union representing state troopers, said it was not involved in the investigation but was 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 about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Manhattan, in suburb of Nassau County.

Mascia had been patrolling the road shortly before midnight when he noticed a black sedan parked on the left shoulder and went to render assistance, James said.

When he got out of the patrol car, he said, he was met with gunfire and shot in the leg before the driver fled westbound in the direction of New York City.

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

At the time, police said there was no video footage of the episode because the trooper’s body camera was not activated.

The camera automatically activates when a patrol car’s roof lights are fully on; Mascia reported that he only turned on the car’s tail lights.

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