NEW YORK – A man was shot dead by police in Queens on Tuesday evening after he opened fire at officers responding to reports of armed robberies in the area. One officer was struck in the leg during the encounter but is expected to recover, according to officials.

Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives for the New York Police Department, named the suspect as 57-year-old Gary Worthy. Worthy was being pursued in connection with two armed robberies that took place at businesses in Queens.

When a pair of officers approached Worthy in the Jamaica neighborhood, they instructed him to halt, but he fled the scene and discharged a firearm at the officers, hitting one in the thigh. In response, the officer returned fire, fatally shooting Worthy.

Additionally, a 26-year-old woman suffered a leg injury during the exchange of gunfire; however, she is also expected to survive, as confirmed by Kenny.

According to Kenny, Worthy was on “lifetime parole” for crimes involving firearms and had been arrested just days earlier for allegations including narcotics possession and resisting arrest, but was subsequently released from custody. Furthermore, he was wanted in connection with three additional armed robberies that had occurred earlier in the year.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams criticized the handling of Worthy’s previous charges, calling it indicative of a failing criminal justice system in the city. The Democratic mayor’s remarks come after a separate incident in which a man with a previous criminal history was charged following a series of random stabbings that resulted in three fatalities in Manhattan.

“We are grateful tonight but we are also angry; we’re angry because we have witnessed in two days a criminal justice system that is failing New Yorkers and the good people of this city,” Adams stated.