Trenton police Det. Edgar Rios in a 2007 photo.

Trenton police Detective James Letts

TRENTON — Trenton police Detective Edgar Rios, who was shot by a domestic violence suspect in a shootout this morning, is out of surgery and remains in critical condition, Police Director Ralph Rivera said this afternoon.

Detective James Letts, who was also wounded in the gunfight that left the suspect dead on Hobart Avenue, was resting at the hospital and expected to survive his injuries, Rivera said.

Rios’ condition was described as more serious, but Rivera said he’s holding out hope for the veteran detective.

“We’re staying positive,” Rivera said. “We’re asking everyone to say a prayer for Detective Rios.”

According to Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini, 23-year-old Eric McNeil fired three shots with a .38-caliber revolver after exiting a house on Hobart Avenue. Two of the bullets struck Rios in the torso and abdomen and one struck Letts in the right shoulder.

Bocchini declined to comment on which officer fired the three shots which struck and killed McNeil, a Garfield Avenue resident.

"He may have just been exiting the house saw them and what transpired transpired," Bocchini said at a press conference this afternoon. "He was handled the way he should have been handled. He took out a firearm, he fired at police officers and the officers returned fire and killed him that’s the way police officers are trained to operate in an instance like that."

After undergoing surgery, Letts is in stable condition and is alert and talking with family, while Rios is in "stable but critical" condition, though he is responsive and alert.

Bocchini said Rios went through extensive trauma surgery after the bullets penetrated several internal organs.

Letts is expected to be released within a few days.

Earlier: Two Trenton cops wounded in shootout that left suspect dead

Eric McNeil, 23, was shot and killed after opening fire on two police officers this morning. The two officers were wounded.

Rios, 53, of Hamilton has been a member of the Trenton police department for more than 30 years. He was named Trenton's officer of the year in 2007. Letts, 45, of Hamilton, has been on the force for more than 15 years.

Rios’ family, including his brother Robert who is also a city detective, was at Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton with him, Rivera said.

Councilwoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, who was also at the hospital to see the injured officers, said Rios was shot in the back, has internal injuries and may need more surgery.

Letts remained conscious and alert following the shooting, and remained at the Regional Medical Center for treatment, surrounded by his family. He was “looking strong,” Rivera said.

Rios and Letts were shot while escorting a victim of domestic violence back to her home this morning.

The woman’s boyfriend had allegedly stabbed her three-week-old puppy to death and beat her before fleeing. She called police around 2:30 a.m., and patrol officers took her to police headquarters to make a statement.

The woman’s aunt showed court paperwork for a restraining order her niece had obtained against Eric McNeil this morning.

Rios and Letts took the woman back home, accompanied by a Mercer County Sheriff's officer who was preparing to take crime scene photos when McNeil began firing.

The sheriff's officer is the main witness in the case, Bocchini said.

McNeil, 23, had just been released from state prison in May after serving more than four years on a robbery and weapons conviction that was returned when he was 18 years old. He was convicted on counts of joyriding, possession of marijuana and controlled dangerous substances, and resisting arrest as a juvenile, Bocchini said.

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Officials are expected to release further details of the shooting and information on a major anti-crime effort in Trenton during a 2:30 p.m. press conference with the state's acting Attorney General, John Hoffman.

There have been 29 homicides already in Trenton this year, two short of the city's record of 31 killings in a single year.

"Gun violence is a daily concern in this city," Hoffman said during the press conference this afternoon. He called Trenton a "war zone."

Trenton officials have appealed to the state for help in policing the city's streets following mass layoffs in 2011 that cost the Trenton department a third of its force. The State Police has been supplementing patrols and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office recently started a joint task force.

"We need our cops back on the streets," said Councilwoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson. "This isn't a gang-related type of incident, but it affects us as a whole, as a city. It's another life lost in our city."

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