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A veteran NYPD detective and former bodyguard to Mayor Michael Bloomberg was convicted of attempted murder yesterday in connection with the off-duty shooting of an unarmed man, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
Leopold McLean, 48, approached Lepaul Gammons, 39, in the vicinity of 119th Road and 153rd Street in South Jamaica around 12:30 a.m. on November 15, 2010 and demanded to know why he was at that location–the home of a woman that they both knew.
McLean then pointed a black handgun at Gammons. When Gammons tried to run from the location, McLean began firing the gun and shot Gammons in the buttocks. McLean continued to shoot until Gammons finally got into his car and drove off.
Gammons is the ex-boyfriend of McLean’s girlfriend, according to news reports.
“This is truly a sad day for everyone when a police officer is convicted of breaking the very laws he had sworn to uphold,” said District Attorney Richard Brown. “But in the pursuit of justice, nobody is above the law. The defendant must now bear responsibility for his actions.”
McLean, who has been a member of the NYPD for 19 years, has been convicted of second-degree attempted murder and first-and second-degree reckless endangerment. He faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years in prison, according to the Queens DA’s office.
