Police officer stabbed in East Harlem

By MAX NEOPIKHANOV

A police officer was stabbed in the head in East Harlem by a man with a criminal record and a history of mental illness after responding to a 911 call, authorities said.

Officer Eder Loor, 28, is in critical condition and undergoing surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.

The suspect, Terence Hale, 26, was arrested by police shortly after, according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

Around 10:30 a.m., Loor and his partner Lukson Mersime responded to a 911 call at East 107th Street and Third Avenue by a woman who wanted her mentally disturbed son taken to a hospital.

Police said that upon meeting with the suspect’s mother on the street, the two officers walked into the building and were met by Hale, who had walked out of the elevator and into the lobby.

Hale walked outside with the officers and asked to walk to the hospital alone.  Kelly said that Hale then produced a knife he had hidden on his person and allegedly thrust it into Loor’s head, piercing his left temple and penetrating the brain.

Hale then fled, said Kelly, and Mersime, who had not seen the blade and thought that Loor had been punched, air jordan 12 femmes ran after and caught him two blocks away at 109th Street.  As Loor was rushed to Mount Sinai, police officers recovered the bloodied three and a half inch blade, which Kelly showed to the press at the 23rd Precinct.

Hale has a record of violent crime, including four arrests, one of which was for assault with a knife, Kelly said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was told by the surgeon to be “cautiously optimistic,” but added, “he’s certainly not out of the woods yet.”

Kelly said that Loor “was conscious and alert” at the scene of the crime but that no further details about his outlook will be available until he has awakened from surgery.

Coincidentally, Loor’s pregnant wife is soon due to give birth at Mount Sinai hospital, and Kelly said that she will be placed in a unit near her husband.

In addition to his service in the Police Department, Loor is a member of the Air National Guard.

Bloomberg also noted the death of firefighter Lt. Richard Nappi on Tuesday after he fought a Bushwick blaze on Monday.

“The low crime rate that we experience here in New York is not free; it comes at a price we saw today,” Bloomberg said.  “New York’s greatest and bravest risk their lives for us.”

Photo: Mayor Bloomberg discusses attack on police officer in East Harlem. Credit: Dominique Carson.