A rookie Middletown police officer is preparing to have a bullet removed from his pelvis after he was shot responding to a domestic dispute Tuesday.

Christopher Dolan, 22, had been on the police force just two weeks when his lieutenant got the call that Dolan was injured in the line of duty.

"It's the worst ? your worst nightmare to receive a call that an officer's been shot," said Middletown Police Department Lt. Paul Rickard. "The valor, the bravery ? it's really incredible what these officers did," Rickard said referring to how cops handled the situation.

Police said 34-year-old Raymond Zayas shot Dolan through the door after Dolan knocked at Zayas' Wawayanda Avenue home. Zayas had been fighting with his wife because he didn't want her to take their SUV, according to authorities. Officers eventually persuaded Zayas to surrender while he was holding his 1-year-old son.

Authorities said Zayas was on probation for assault at the time of the incident, prohibiting him from legally possessing a firearm. He now faces an attempted murder charge.

Rickard said Dolan, who is awaiting surgery to have a bullet removed from his pelvis, was alert and happy to have visitors at Horton Hospital. Dolan was also struck in the arm.

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