A pair of gutsy FDNY EMTs went above and beyond in response to a scary shooting on a Queens street.
The early evening drive-by shooting in Laurelton unfolded so quickly that paramedic Lucey Snyder and EMS Lt. Giovanni Tumbaco didn’t even have time to jump in their ambulance.
They instead responded on foot — chasing a car with a shot man behind the wheel for nearly six blocks.
Snyder’s shift had ended, and she was sitting in her car outside her EMS station when she heard what sounded like gunfire a few yards away at about 9:50 p.m. on May 9.
Snyder said she saw a sedan pull up beside another car on Merrick Blvd. near 222nd St. before the shots rang out.
After the car with the shooter sped off, she could tell the other car’s driver had been shot. But that car was moving too, and it was out of control.
“I thought it was a car backfiring until I saw the second vehicle drive off. I saw the bullet holes,” Snyder said days later. “The car was still rolling down the street. I was about to go home. I couldn’t just leave.”
Snyder dashed back into the station for help and alerted Tumbaco, who put out an emergency call. Then they sprinted out of the station in pursuit of the bullet-ridden sedan, which was starting to pick up speed.
“I could see a male slumped over on the driver’s side,” Tumbaco said. “He didn’t have control of the vehicle. I tried to open the door, but I don’t know what happened, the vehicle just startled going faster.”
The chase was on, which was a little more difficult for the off-duty Snyder. She had changed out of her department-issued boots and into a pair of red Crocs, which she said are not the best shoes for running.
“I didn’t think about changing shoes,” Snyder said. “I just thought about the people in the car.”
The shoes came off twice during her sprint, but she kept going. She caught up with the car right after Tumbaco, who broke the driver’s side window, opened the door and stopped the car with the emergency brake.
Only then did they realize that a backseat passenger had also been wounded. A passenger in the front seat was not injured.
The car’s wounded occupants were transported to Jamaica Hospital in critical condition but later were upgraded to stable. There have been no arrests.
The daring rescue came just days before first responders across the country celebrated National EMS Week, which runs through Saturday.
“FDNY EMS are dedicated professionals whose resilience and dedication lights New Yorkers’ darkest hours,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said to commemorate the occasion. “During EMS Week, we celebrate officers, paramedics and EMTs who work diligently to care for New Yorkers in times of need. I am incredibly proud of all the hard work our members do each day.”
That includes Snyder and Tumbaco, who got the celebration off to a running start.
“It was a very boring desk night until that happened,” Tumbaco said. “I work out. I’m pretty fit. But definitely my heart rate was racing.”
