Body armor might have saved the life of a state trooper involved in a search warrant incident involving a s special operations team in the Bear-Glasgow area. The team was looking for a suspect in a robbery at the Caesar’s Palace casino in Atlantic City.
The trooper received minor injuries after being shot in the protective body armor at a residence in Red Lion Chase late Wednesday morning.
The incident occurred at around 11:19 a.m. as Delaware State Police assigned to Delaware Gaming Enforcement, assisted by members of the Delaware State Police Special Operations Response Team (SORT), were executing a search warrant at a home in the 1000 block of Powell Court.
The warrant was connected to the New Jersey State Police effort to apprehend a suspect identified as Nathaniel Greenlee, 21, who lives at the Powell Court address. Greenlee has active warrants issued by New Jersey State Police in connection with the armed robbery of Ceasar’s on July 21.
According troopers, John E. Greenlee-, 50, the father of Nathaniel Greenlee, opened fire on the team from a second floor stairway, discharging two rounds from a semiautomatic handgun. The trooper, assigned to the entry team, was struck in the upper body as his protective body armor absorbed the impact of the bullet. SORT members were able to take the suspect into custody without incident, without returning fire. The semiautomatic handgun was recovered at the scene.
Nathaniel Greenlee, the focus of the search warrant, was not located inside the home. He was later located in Pennsylvania and was taken into custody by Pennsylvania State Police this afternoon, without incident.
The trooper, 42, is a 19-year veteran of the Delaware State Police assigned to the Delaware State Police Special Operations Team. He was treated and released from the Christiana Hospital Trauma Center with minor injuries.
John E. Greenlee was charged with Reckless Endangering First Degree and Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony. He was arraigned and released on $25,000 unsecured bond. The case has been referred to prosecutors.
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