Two married NYPD detectives who heard a loud bang whereas driving in the Bronx with their 2-year-old child on the Fourth of July have been shocked to later uncover a part of a bullet lodged in their car door, the spouse informed The Submit.
Stephanie Eiel, 39, who’s assigned to highschool security, stated she and her detective husband have been headed home from a vacation outing in Rockland County once they heard the bang that they assumed was from fireworks as they drove on the Bronx River Parkway close to Gun Hill Highway.
“We did react briefly but we kept driving, our ears started ringing,” Eiel stated.
“We checked the baby to make sure he was OK. He was fine. He started watching his cartoons again — and we kept driving.”
It wasn’t till Eiel was at work Tuesday that she despatched an image of the broken door to her husband and he urged her to look extra carefully, she stated.
“I went downstairs with my partner and saw, really examined the panel of my car, and saw it appeared to be a bullet fragment that went through it,” Eiel stated. “It could have hit me or my son because my son was sitting directly behind me. It could of ended really badly for us. I was shocked.”
She stated she felt there was “literally nothing we could do.”
“Thank God it ended with us being safe, but at that moment in time I just felt kind of shocked… you anticipate things like this happening on the job, not off duty with your 2 year old sitting directly behind us.”
Her husband, a 17-year veteran of the NYPD, was upset, she stated.
“He’s been around the world, [in the military], serving in the NYPD, and you never think of something like this happening,” she stated. “He’s just grateful we’re OK, but there’s lots to think about with the 2 year old. Could of been me, him, the bullet could of ricocheted inside the car. It could of went anywhere.”
Eiel stated she and her husband have lived in the Bronx their complete lives however by no means anticipated falling sufferer to crime themselves.
“We live in the city, work in the city, we love the city — when we’re off duty things like this should not be happening,” she stated.
Detectives’ Endowment Affiliation President Paul DiGiacomo stated the incident may have been a “real tragedy” and urged the creation of a particular firearms prosecutor to deal with gun violence citywide.
“This incident could have been a real tragedy, we had a mother and father, a child, 2 year old child that could of lost their lives because of gun violence,” he stated. “It could be anyone, anywhere – and that’s why I’ve been calling on the governor to appoint a special firearms prosecutors to deal with the gun violence in New York City and New York state – it’s at an epidemic level – you’d have a more of a coordinated effort.”
He stated all gun circumstances ought to go to at least one workplace for “precision prosecution of gun violence.”
“Not like it is now, where it’s different in every borough,” the union boss stated. “People’s lives and the safety of New York City detectives depend on it.”
