STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The emergency medical technician (EMT) who wrestled a gun from an ambulance patient after being shot by him was released from Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) Thursday, less than a day after the incident.
Richard McMahon, 25, was discharged Thursday afternoon, and was greeted as a hero with applause from hospital officials, NYPD officers, fellow EMTs and local law enforcement officials.
During the violent encounter as the ambulance traveled along Forest Avenue, despite being shot, McMahon took the gun from the shooter and tossed it away.
On Thursday, he was was wheeled out in a wheelchair and was given a gift basket by RUMC staff. A number of motorcycle groups, including members of the Staten Island chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse, were present at the ceremony. They drove off from the hospital behind McMahon and his family.
EMT Richard McMahon was discharged from Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton Thursday afternoon. (Staten Island Advance/David Luces)
Retired NYPD detective Marty Graham and an off-duty Department of Sanitation Lieutenant Joseph Perrone, who apprehended the shooter after the encounter, were at the walk-out ceremony and greeted McMahon when he left the hospital.
Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon was able to visit the 25-year-old EMT in his hospital room before his release and spend time with him and his family.
“I was able to visit him earlier,’’ the district attorney said. “I spoke with him, his mother and a couple of his aunts. What I told him was that we are incredibly proud of his heroism. His single act of heroism saved many lives possibly. If the perpetrator would have gotten out of the ambulance with the gun, he could have started shooting.”
Unfortunately, it appears that this is a case where “someone got their hands on a gun who should not have one,’’ he continued. “It’s an illegal gun.”
The district attorney also praised the female driver of the ambulance, who drove the wounded McMahon to RUMC Wednesday evening, saying she acted heroically as well.
EMT Richard McMahon was discharged from Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton Thursday afternoon. (Staten Island Advance/David Luces)
EMT’S FATHER RECOUNTS SON’S ENCOUNTER
The EMTs father said his son’s brush with death began after a 37-year-old patient identified by police as Thomas McCauley was brought inside the ambulance.
Richard McMahon, 25, an EMT who worked for Richmond University Medical Center, was shot by a patient in an ambulance on May 18, 2022. (Courtesy of Facebook)
“His head was down, filling out paperwork,” the elder McMahon said of his son. “He picked his head up, and the next thing there was a gun facing him. He gets shot.”
McCauley allegedly still was pointing the gun at McMahon even after shooting him.
“I guess you could kind of say that he took a gun off the street,’’ he father said. “I’m a firm believer that everything that happens in life is for a purpose and there’s always a reason for that purpose, so something good for him is going to come out of this.”
EMERGENCY CALL
The heroic EMT was among emergency responders for a call of a disorderly person outside the Funky Monkey Lounge, located at 1205 Forest Ave., at 7:41 p.m on Wednesday, said NYPD Inspector Mark Molinari, the commanding officer of Detective Borough Staten Island, during a press conference Wednesday.
The EMT crew saw McCauley in front of the bar and placed him in the back of ambulance. While the vehicle was traveling down Forest Avenue, McCauley pulled out a gun and fired one round inside the ambulance, striking the EMT in the shoulder, police said.
The female driver of the ambulance pulled over on the 600 block of Forest Avenue and McCauley then fled out the back door of the vehicle, police said. He was quickly apprehended by Graham and Perrone, police said.
The suspect is being held at the 120th Precinct in St. George. Charges are pending further investigation and conferral with the district attorney’s office, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.