The incident, starkly similar to the shooting of
Amadou Diallo, occurred shortly after 11 p.m. in a
neighborhood of one-family homes in Jamaica.

One of two officers responding to 911 calls of a
domestic disturbance fired twice at the man as he
emerged from a house, cops said.

According to police, the man, Lionel Hickey, told
the officers "I'll kill you" as he reached for what
turned out to be his cell phone.

Hickey was struck once in the abdomen, police
said. The other bullet apparently missed.

Hickey, 36, a Transit Authority employee, was
rushed to Mary Immaculate Hospital, where he
was listed early this morning in stable condition.

Police said Hickey will be charged with assaulting
an ex-girlfriend - a fellow TA employee - inside his
house at 90-52 210th Place.

The woman, who was not identified, was taken to
Long Island Jewish Hospital to be treated for
injuries suffered when Hickey assaulted her, police
said.

The incident began at 11:01 p.m., when the
woman, described as "whispering and breathless,"
told a 911 operator: "He's trying to kill me."

The woman called a minute later to report that the
man was hiding in the basement, authorities said.

The officers dispatched to the scene knew they
were headed to a dangerous situation, police said.

At 11:07, a 911 operator got a third call from the
woman, who said: "He's shooting everybody."

But the gunshots the woman heard were probably
from the officer's gun, police said.

Several witnesses said they heard two gunshots.

"I thought they were firecrackers," said Lynette
Philbert. "Then I heard somebody scream, like a
woman's scream."

Pastor Alphonso Cohen of the nearby Destiny
Worship Center ran outside after he heard the
shots.

"I saw the shooter - the other officers whisked him
away after consoling him," said Cohen, 34.

"He was talking, trying to explain what he did. They
were patting him on the back saying, 'It's OK, it's
OK, don't worry.'

"The man was on the ground, handcuffed," Cohen
said.

Witnesses said Hickey was left wounded on the
ground too long.

"The ambulance came, but they left him on the
ground," said Jocelyne Mayas, a neighbor.

"They were slapping him, saying, 'Are you
awake?'" said Leonard March, 18.

"It was inhumane," Cohen said. "There was no
legitimate concern. It was callous."

"There was no response," March said. "They
turned him over onto his back, with the cuffs still
on."

Authorities said Hickey is a token booth clerk and
his girlfriend is a train operator.

The couple had one child before they became
estranged, police said. They said Hickey had
summoned his ex-girlfriend to his home to discuss
financial problems.

Mayas, a neighbor, called Hickey "a good person"
and said he and his mother had lived in the
neighborhood for a long time.

Diallo was shot in The Bronx on Feb. 4 by officers
of the NYPD's Street Crime Unit who mistook him
for a suspect.

As Diallo reached for a beeper, the four
non-uniformed cops fired 41 bullets, 19 of which
struck and killed him.

-- Philip Messing - 2/23/99