Shot firefighter released from hospital

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - FDNY lieutenant Jim Hayes left the Richmond University Medical Center Saturday afternoon surrounded by well-wishers.

He was the first FDNY firefighter shot in the line of duty in nearly 20 years.

After a long standoff Friday morning, police officers shot and killed an armed man who set off a smoke grenade at a house on Staten Island and then shot a firefighter, officials said.

The NYPD said that Garland Tyree, 48, barricaded himself in the Mariners Harbor house after shooting FDNY Lt. James S. Hayes, 53. Hayes was struck twice in the leg, police said. He was hospitalized in stable condition and recovered.

Tyree refused to come out unless he could talk to family, so an NYPD helicopter flew in his mother from Delaware.

After speaking to his mother, Tyree told police he was ready to surrender. However, instead of giving up, Tyree emerged from the side of the building and fired on police, the NYPD said. His shots struck two police cars and a neighbor's house.

Officers returned fire, killing Tyree, police said. The standoff lasted about six hours.

"It should go without saying, but it cannot go without saying, that this is not the way we want these kinds of negotiations to end," Police Commissioner William Bratton told reporters at a news conference

The standoff began when U.S. marshals tried to serve Tyree an arrest warrant early Friday. Tyree set off the smoke grenade, prompting the FDNY to respond to the home.

Tyree was a suspected high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang who was wanted for violating his parole. He had more than a dozen arrests and several convictions, including a federal gun conviction in 2004.

In court papers, his prior lawyers described him as someone who had mental health issues and never caught a break.

On his Facebook page, Tyree posted this message Friday: "Today I die."

Lieutenant Hayes is a 33-year veteran of the FDNY. He was among the first responders at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Hayes is one of three brothers in his family currently active on the force, officials said.