By Janon Fisher
Police1 Correspondent
(SPRINGFIELD, Mass.) -- Detective Carlo D’Amato, 58, was released from the hospital Wednesday after a random street mugging near his home left him hovering in critical condition for several days.
About 2 a.m. on Dec. 23 the Springfield detective was off duty and walking home from Main St. when a man approached him from behind and demanded his wallet, according to Lt. Bill Noonan, public information officer with the Springfield Police.
“Carlo said to him, ‘I’m a cop, you don’t want to do this,’” Noonan told Police1.com
At that point D’Amato reached for his gun and the man shot him once through the left side of the upper torso. The bullet exited through the detective’s right side.
He was rushed to Bay State Medical Center where he underwent several surgeries, police said.
“The surgeon said that if he hadn’t been in the great physical condition he’s in, he would have died,” Noonan told Police1.
The suspect, who police describe as a Hispanic man in his mid-20’s, fled the scene. No one has been arrested in what the police describe as a “random street crime,” but the investigation continues.
The 28-year law enforcement veteran, who is assigned to work with juvenile offenders, was released to his home where he will continue to convalesce. There has been no word on when he will return to duty.