Wounded Police Officer Discharged from Stony Brook University Hospital
STONY BROOK, NY, March 17, 2015 – Suffolk County police officer Mark Collins who was wounded while pursuing a suspect late Wednesday night in Huntington Station was discharged Sunday afternoon from Stony Brook University Hospital.
The 35-year-old officer, who is a member of the police department’s gang unit, was shot in the neck and hip following a traffic stop. “He is very lucky,” says James Vosswinkel, MD, Chief of Trauma, Emergency Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Stony Brook Medicine, “the bullet came within an inch of vital structures in the officer’s neck, and although he did not require surgery, those injuries were potentially life-threatening.”
The 12-year veteran was discharged only 4 days after the shooting. He made his way through a procession of more than 100 cheering officers and other supporters in a wheelchair pushed by Dr. Vosswinkel.
