The NYPD cop who was shot during a chaotic gun battle with a Bronx gangbanger underwent surgery Sunday to have the bullet removed from his ankle, police sources said.
Doctors at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center removed the slug from Officer Sherrod Stuart’s leg after the cop was transferred from where he had been recuperating at a hospital in The Bronx.
Stuart’s fellow cops who showed up to visit him throughout the day said he hadn’t lost his good nature.
“He had surgery, and he’s looking good,” said one cop. “He’s smiling, and he’s got a good positive attitude today.”
Another cop said Stuart had his family at his side.
“He’s just happy to be alive,” said the cop. “We don’t know how serious the injury is yet, but he’s hoping it won’t end his career.”
Stuart and his fellow officers were responding to multiple 911 calls after a fight spilled out of an unlicensed nightclub and onto Third Avenue in Mott Haven around 2 a.m. Saturday.
The cops found the combatants armed with guns, knives and bats before 19-year-old Christopher Rice opened fire on the officers, striking Stuart in the right ankle.
Stuart returned fire, striking Rice four times.
Stuart, who is still recovering at a Bronx hospital, has not yet been charged for shooting the four-year veteran. But sources told The Post that investigators may slap him with attempted murder of a police officer, in addition to weapons-possession charges.