MIDDLETOWN – Middletown police officer Evan Barone was involved in an exchange of gunfire with Desean Owens in which both the 26-year-old cop and the suspect were injured on Saturday night. Barone has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Immediately following the shooting, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced that two investigations of the incident were going to be conducted. On Tuesday, Hoovler, at Middletown City Hall announced that Officer Barone had been cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident. Officer Barone was shot in the forearm by Owens and then returned fire, striking the suspect in the lower body and the head.
Barone was scheduled to undergo surgery for his injuries at about the same time Hoovler was announcing his exoneration. Owens is in stable condition at Westchester Medical Center and will be remanded to the Orange County Jail, without bail, when he is released from the hospital.
The incident started when Barone, on patrol, was flagged down by a female in the area of 28 Myrtle Avenue. The unidentified female advised Barone that Desean Owens, her ex-boyfriend, arrived unannounced and was armed with a gun. During the conversation, Barone, on a sidewalk between the house and a red SUV with three children inside, was shot in the left forearm by Owens with a 9mm handgun. Barone then returned fire, striking Owens in the lower body and the head.
The entire exchange was captured on a doorbell camera at 28 Myrtle Avenue.
“He placed himself between the shooter and the children,” said Dave Hoovler, Orange County’s district attorney.
Owens, 29, of the Bronx, a parole absconder on a charge of robbery in the first degree and a career violent criminal, was charged with attempted murder in the first degree Monday, a charge which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years to life, criminal use of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon.
Hoovler said that a second investigation is being conducted into Owens’ actions, and Hoovler expects more charges against the defendant.
“He did an outstanding job,” said John Ewanciw, Middletown’s police chief. “His warrior instincts kicked in that day.”
Video of the shooting:
Press conference video:
