STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Monday marked 22 years since two of New York’s Finest died in the line of duty while attempting to conduct an undercover illegal gun buy-and-bust on Staten Island.
It was March 10, 2003, when NYPD Detectives James Nemorin, 36, of Baldwin, L.I., and Rodney Andrews, 34, of Brooklyn, were in Tompkinsville to meet with Stapleton gang member Ronell Wilson, in the hopes of purchasing a TEC-9 semi-automatic pistol.
Wilson, who was seated in the back of the detectives’ black Nissan Maxima asked to stop at an apartment to pick up the weapon, forcing backup officers to keep driving to avoid being spotted. Moments later, Wilson fired upon both men at point-blank range with a .44-caliber revolver, according to Advance/SILive.com archives.
The then 19-year-old gunman fled the scene in the car, leaving the officers’ bodies near the corner of St. Paul’s Avenue and Hannah Street in Tompkinsville. EMTs who arrived on the scene recalled the efforts to aid the fatally-wounded detectives:…