By Matthew Lysiak and John Launger
The Daily News
NASSAU COUNTY, N.Y. — The Long Island paramedic wounded by a Rambo wannabe recounted the harrowing moment when he had to sprint for his life.
“I’m still in shock,” Justin Angell said Thursday, as colleagues cheered his release from Nassau University Medical Center. “It really doesn’t make any sense.”
Angell, 20, was shot in the hip Tuesday night as he made his way toward a Ford pickup that had slammed into a pole on a suburban street in Bellmore.
“It all happened really quick,” he recalled. “I’m just focused on recovering, and I want to go home.”
Inside the souped-up truck, Jason Beller, 31, was armed to the teeth and wielding a Chinese-made, semi-automatic gun. He was aiming with a laser-guided scope, bent on causing mayhem, police said.
“I really didn’t know what was going on,” Angell said. “Once I felt pain, I just started running as fast as I could.”
Other volunteers from the Bellmore Volunteer Fire Department, including Angell’s brother, Dean, 23, used an ambulance to shield him from the crazed gunman.
Nassau County police officers eventually killed Beller in a gun battle. He was still behind the wheel when he died.
Angell said the terrifying experience would not diminish his desire to serve the community as a volunteer medic.
“I love what I do,” he said.
“A couple of weeks. Maybe a month or so,” he said, making his best guess at a return date. “Just want to make sure I’m 100%.”
Republished with permission from the New York Daily News