An NYPD captain “at the end of his tour” had better things to do than waste his time at the hospital when two cops were shot in the line of duty — so he just headed home like any other day, sources told The Post.
Capt. Scott Forster, 31, was stripped of his gun and badge and faces demotion to lieutenant for his blasé reaction to the attack early Saturday.
Forster was on the clock at the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn when a gunman wounded Officers William Reddin and Andrew Yurkiw in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The captain was told about the shooting, but went home to Staten Island instead of going to the scene or to Kings County Hospital — which is in his precinct.
“He was at the end of his tour and he didn’t do what he was supposed to do, which is to go to the hospital and set up the hospital visits,” a law enforcement source said. “That’s not something that’s looked favorably upon when two cops are shot.”
Another source said Forster didn’t answer his phone despite multiple calls telling him to come back.
Forster now faces potential disciplinary charges by the NYPD.
“He’ll be lucky if he only gets demoted to lieutenant. He could very well be fired and he should be — no doubt about it. [Commissioner Bill] Bratton could fire him for non-feasance,” a high-ranking police source told The Post.
“It’s all hands on deck when a cop is shot — every cop knows that except him, apparently. This man is a total disgrace to the badge. You are a boss. What kind of message does that send? The message is, ‘I don’t give a sh-t about these two cops.’”
Reddin and Yurkiw, of the 81st Precinct, were wounded in a gun battle with 33-year-old career criminal Frederick “Jamaal” Funes.
The two cops and others responded after Funes allegedly threatened an MTA worker with a .357 Magnum.
The gunman shot Yurkiw in the chest, but the cop’s bulletproof vest saved his life.
Reddin was shot in the hip, but police believe it’s possible he was hit by another cop’s bullet that may have ricocheted.
He was released from the hospital on Thursday.
Additional reporting by Bob Fredericks