Lovely Toney, 3, struck by stray bullet when suspect allegedly fires on Suffolk officers
RIDGE, N.Y. -- A little girl was shot by a stray bullet when police say a suspect opened fire on detectives Tuesday night on Long Island.
The girl, identified by her family as 3-year-old Lovely Toney, was rushed to a local hospital in stable condition.
The harrowing moments Tuesday night were caught on police body camera video. They show a father carrying his 3-year-old daughter bleeding after she was shot. Police said the bullet came through the wall from a next door apartment.
The video shows rushing Lovely Toney to the emergency room.
Watch: Suffolk Police share update on investigation
Her life was saved amid the horrific tragedy, said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison.
Harrison released the videos, he said, to show the heroic actions.
"Timely maneuver of getting that 3-year-old child into a vehicle, rushing to a hospital and, if you ask me, saving that child's life," Harrison said. "I have a grandson who is three years old. I can't imagine going through that same situation... the trauma it must've put the family. But I will say thank God for the men and women of this department."
Police had come to the Ridge apartment looking for murder suspect Gary Jones, wanted for allegedly killing his girlfriend in Central Islip in June. They found him in Ridge. He opened fire.
"Jones immediately started firing multiple shots at our detectives. Three rounds went into an adjacent apt and struck our 3-year-old victim," Harrison said.
Lovely Toney's father showed CBS New York where the bullets came in. The 3-year-old was jumping on the couch. He didn't realize she was shot through the abdomen until he saw blood.
"No 3-year-old, any child, should experience anything inside their home. She was fresh out of the tub, dripping wet from getting out of the bath," James Toney said. "I turned around and my daughter was standing there with blood running."
"She just jumped on the couch, and she must have had her hand up, because the shot went through the hand, through the stomach," he added.
Police later found Jones dead in the adjacent apartment with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had been visiting Toney's next-door neighbor.
"Better decisions. Got to make better decisions," James Toney said. "When you have the safety of the others around, you have to make better decisions. You shouldn't have anyone on the run for a heinous act."
"Even inside your home you have watch your neighbors," he added. "Watch your neighbors a little bit more."
James Toney said the videos of Lovely's rescue are too much for him to watch. He said she'll need additional surgery, but is in stable condition and is expected to fully recover.
Police said Jones has several prior arrests, and the gun he used was the same caliber as the gun used in the June murder.
"Good officers. They put my daughter in a squad car and kept everything good," James Toney said. "They did their job and took her to the hospital safely."
