Cop stabbed in the head in Harlem; suspect arrested at scene

Cop stabbed in the head in Harlem; suspect arrested at scene
Soon-to-be dad Officer Eder Loor, 28, is in critical condition; ‘He’s not out of the woods yet’: Mayor Bloomberg

A city cop was stabbed in head Tuesday in East Harlem. Police said this was the knife used by the suspect.

A 26-year-old man is accused of stabbing NYPD Officer Eder Loor. Loor and his wife are expecting a baby this summer.
A deranged muscle-bound menace plunged a knife through the skull of an NYPD officer in a vicious attack outside an East Harlem clothing store, authorities said.

Officer Eder Loor, a six-year veteran, survived emergency surgery for a bleeding brain but remained in critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Suspect Terrence Hale, 27, walked casually away from the near-fatal stabbing — and then flexed his muscles when cops surrounded and arrested him, police and a witness said.

“(It’s) like he was saying, ‘Come and get me,’” said witness Miguel Garcia. “It was like King Kong. I’ve never seen anything crazy like this.”

Loor, 28, whose pregnant wife is due in three months, was stabbed in the left temple with the 3 1/2-inch knife without provocation, Kelly said.

Mayor Bloomberg, after visiting the hospital, said the mood there was surprisingly upbeat.

“Just before I left, the last update I got, he is in critical condition but they are very optimistic,” the mayor said.

“I think they would say cautiously optimistic, but the smiles are on their faces. Having said that he’s not out of the woods yet.”

Loor and his partner were called to the Franklin Plaza housing complex around 10:45 a.m. by Hale’s mother, who said that her son was behaving erratically and needed hospitalization.

“There is some history of emotional disturbance so she called for an ambulance,” Kelly said.

The two cops were about to go upstairs to the mom’s apartment to collect Hale when he suddenly stepped off the elevator into the lobby of the building.

“Why are you here?” Hale asked the cops before walking past the partners.

“He said he was going to go to the hospital on his own,” Kelly said. “The officers informed him they would escort him to the hospital.

“That’s when Hale produced a knife and stabbed Officer Loor.”

The officer’s wife Nina was keeping vigil at the hospital. Loor was also stabbed in the arm, sources said.

“I thought he got punched,” said a female witness. “But it was gushing too much (blood) to be a punch.

Garcia, who works in a nearby hardware store, said the suspect walked over to JFK Fried Chicken & Pizza one block north — where he was surrounded by about 10 cops.

The wounded officer’s partner, Lukson Mersime, chased the suspect down and Hale, 26, was quickly arrested.

Hale, who was charged with assault, was placed under psychiatric care at Metropolitan Hospital. His rap sheet included a 2006 stabbing, along with arrests for robbery, assault and riot, authorities said.

Source: NY Daily News x TH