A 25-year-old hero cop seriously wounded by a deranged Bronx man was released from the hospital yesterday — to the cheers of relatives and dozens of fellow officers.
Robert Salerno (pictured, in wheelchair) left via a side entrance of Lincoln Hospital. Pushing the wheelchair were the three other officers who responded to the 911 call that nearly cost him his life on March 22.
“Tell the guys that I’m ready to get back to work,” Salerno told a crowd that included about 60 members of the NYPD, his parents, an aunt and other relatives.
He then got into an ambulance bound for a physical-rehabilitation center in White Plains.
“It’s a very good day,” said his mother, Sherry. “We just ask for everyone’s help and continued prayers. As for the police and the hospital, everyone has been great.”
Salerno was shot three times by Santiago Urina, who had become enraged when his mother’s home health-care aide rejected his advances.
Salerno’s bulletproof vest stopped one slug, but two struck his lower abdomen. He suffered extensive nerve damage to his right leg and injuries to his bladder and both intestines.
Urina was killed by police gunfire.
With his physical therapy expected to last at least two months, it’s unclear when Salerno, a three-year veteran assigned to the 44th Precinct, will be able to return to work. Michael Blaustein