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A New York man was convicted Monday of fatally stabbing a longtime emergency services officer in a 2022 unprovoked attack that took place steps away from her station in Queens.
Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, 61, was ambushed while responding to a call for help when she was killed. One of the first responders to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, she was months away from a planned retirement when she died.
Peter Zisopoulos, 37, was convicted on charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He faces 25 years to life when he sentenced June 30, according to prosecutors.
Anthony Almojera, a lieutenant paramedic who worked with Russo-Elling for years, said in a text message the ruling was a relief for the late EMS officer's family and EMS workers across the city.
"None of this will bring Allison back but we can take some small solace in the fact that this monster will most likely never see the light of day again," said Almojera, the vice president of the Uniformed Emergency Medical Services Officers union, of which Russo-Elling was a member. "I hope her family and her EMS family can start to pick up the pieces and remember her how she was. A bright shining and smiling human being who was always there for others, that will be her legacy."
There was no indication Russo-Elling knew Zisopoulos, who fled to his apartment and was arrested after locking himself inside. Zisopoulos' lawyer previously said his client “has a past psychiatric history going back to 2018.”
FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker called the conviction a "just verdict for this brutal crime."
"And while the verdict will not bring Captain Russo back to us, I pray her family and those who loved her get some sense of closure from this," he said in a statement. "Captain Russo was a hero and continues to be a source of inspiration and strength to her colleagues and to this Department."
Russo-Elling was posthumously promoted to captain.
District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement she hopes the conviction "brings Alison’s family, friends and coworkers solace as we continue to grieve her loss."
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