Retired suburban NY cop shot after interrupting burglary

Peter Schmidt Sr., who retired in 2005 after more than 20 years with the Greenburgh Police Department, was shot twice when he confronted two men exiting an unoccupied home at 5 Payne Road, in the North Elmsford section of the township, according to Chief Chris McNerney.

A retired police officer police was shot twice in Westchester County Monday afternoon after the cop interrupted a burglary in progress.

Around 3:45 p.m. Monday, Schmidt spotted two men behind a neighbor’s home in Elmsford that he knew was not occupied, police said.

Walton has two prior felony arrests, police said, one for reckless endangerment and another for a violent assault.

Schmidt was taken to the hospital after the shooting but has since been discharged.

Schmidt’s son, active Greenburgh police Officer Peter Schmidt Jr., who was off-duty, ran to the scene and reportedly saw the suspects leaving the scene in a blue BMW. He stood talking to other detectives and officers for a brief time in his driveway, his arm in a sling, then walked to the door with a Greenburgh official, pausing for moment on the front porch.

Greenburgh Town Court Judge Arlene Gordon-Oliver issued an order of protection barring the two suspects from any contact with the Schmidt family. He called in the license plate number and the two suspects were apprehended shortly later in Yonkers.

Walton has been identified as the alleged shooter, hitting Schmidt Sr.in the right forearm and right torso. He was mowing his lawn at the time of the incident when instinct set in that something was wrong.

The man, whose identity has not yet been released, suffered injuries but they did not appear to be life-threatening, Town Supervisor Paul Feiner told The Journal News.

Police stopped the auto a short time later on the Sprain Brook Parkway in Yonkers.