Detective Edgar Rios remains in critical but stable condition at Capital Health Regional Medical Center after being shot twice on Thursday morning, police said.
TRENTON — Detective Edgar Rios, who was shot twice during a shootout with a domestic violence suspect Thursday morning, remains in critical but stable condition at a city hospital, police said today.
Rios was rushed to Capital Health Regional Medical Center and remains there. Detective James Letts, who was shot in the right shoulder during the incident, was released from the hospital Friday.
Eric McNeil, the 23-year-old man who police say shot Rios and Letts, was shot and killed Thursday during the gunfight on Hobart Avenue. Police have not said who fired the fatal rounds. The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office said today that McNeil died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
McNeil had allegedly beaten his ex-girlfriend and stabbed her puppy to death about six hours before the shooting. Rios and Letts were bringing the ex-girlfriend, Yama Blue, home along with a Mercer County Sheriff's Office crime scene photographer when they were ambushed.
Detective Edgar Rios (left) consults with other investigators at the scene of a homicide on Stuyvesant Avenue in Dec. 2011. Rios was wounded last week alongside another Trenton officer during a gunfight with a domestic violence suspect on Hobart Avenue. Rios remains in critical condition today. A blood drive is being held today at Trenton Fire Headquarters in support of Rios and Letts. The event began at noon and runs until 6 p.m.
Police officers and Rios' family members remained at the hospital through the weekend. Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr. and acting Attorney General John Hoffman have asked for prayers for Rios' recovery.
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