AC Police: Officer Fires Shot During Struggle

An Atlantic City police officer fired a shot while she and another officer struggled with a suspect Saturday morning, but authorities say no one was struck by the bullet.

However, the officer who fired the shot, Cynthia Rongione, was hospitalized after she was injured in the incident. Further details were not immediately disclosed, but she's expected to fully recover.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said Rongione and officer Allen Heinze had gone to an apartment building around 10:50 a.m. after a woman reported that her 29-year-old boyfriend, Samual Laws, and her newborn child were inside one of the units.

Laws didn't respond when she tried to get inside and, concerned about the child's welfare, she asked the officers to enter the apartment.

After entering with a key supplied by the building's superintendent, the officers found Laws and the infant asleep in a bedroom. After giving the infant - who was unharmed - to its mother, she requested that Laws leave the apartment.

When the officers attempted to wake Laws, authorities say he charged at Heinze, who attempted to subdue him but was knocked into a wall. The suspect then allegedly punched Rongione's throat and her right shoulder area.

Rongione then pulled out her service weapon and fired one round into the bed. Laws, who was not injured in the scuffle, went back onto the bed and was quickly handcuffed.

Bail was set at $145,000 for Laws, who was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer. He was being held in the county jail Saturday night, and it was not known if he had retained an attorney.