Cop-shooter ruled insane

BY NICOLE BODE

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, October 19th 2007, 4:00 AM

A Queens cop wounded in a shootout with a delusional gunman recounted the harrowing incident Thursday, as his attacker was deemed too mentally unstable to serve jail time.

"He stood over me with a loaded shotgun," Detective David Harris told Queens Supreme Court Justice James Griffin. "I had no choice but to draw my weapon. I didn't know where I was shooting, I just knew where [his] shotgun was pointed - it was in my face."

Kevin Davy pleaded guilty yesterday to attempted murder of Harris and his partner, Detective Dominick Romano, in the July 17, 2005, attack in Queens Village.

Davy remained seated throughout the proceedings and did not look at Harris.

The 27-year-old shot the head off a century-old statue at Sts. Joachim and Anne Church, and used a machete to slice off the arms, police said. When Harris and Romano arrived, Davy turned the 12-gauge shotgun on them, police said.

Under the terms of his plea deal, Davy will be committed to a state mental health facility. A court-mandated psychologist determined that Davy was suffering from paranoid delusions and was not criminally responsible for his actions by reason of mental defect, defense lawyers said.

"He was not able to appreciate his conduct was wrong at the time," said Defense Lawyer Jeffrey Chabrowe.

Davy shot Romano once in the head and eight times in the back at close range, police said. Buckshot pellets penetrated Romano's brain, causing him to have seizures to this day, said prosecutor Michelle Goldstein. Romano has since retired from the NYPD.