(StraightNews.org) – Two police officers and a suspect died during a shootout in a New York suburb on the evening of April 13. Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile told reporters that the incident unfolded after officers attempted to stop a fleeing suspicious vehicle. The police later located the car in the suburb of Liverpool, and while they examined it, shots rang out from a nearby house.
Police returned fire, and three people were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, where two officers later died. Mr. Cecile said, “We lost two heroes tonight.”
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said it was a dark day and the city’s “worst nightmare” had come true. New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the killings “senseless.”
The two dead law enforcement officers were subsequently identified as Onondaga Sheriff’s Lt. Michael Hoosock and Syracuse Police Officer Michael Jensen. The slain suspect was 33-year-old Christopher Murphy, who died under police fire outside the Liverpool residence. A man attempting to leave the house was arrested in its backyard, police confirmed.
Onondaga Sheriff Toby Shelley told reporters that Jensen joined the police three years ago, and Hoosock was a decorated lawman and member of the bomb squad since 2007.
Joe Moran of the Syracuse police union described the shooter, whose motive is unclear, as “an evil demon” who took a man away from his family. Officers lined the city’s streets as ambulances carried the dead men’s bodies, passing the Syracuse police department headquarters.
The suspect’s motive is unknown, and his police record contains two previous charges of driving while intoxicated in 2014 and resisting arrest.
The Officer Down Memorial Page said the two deaths bring 2024’s total to 40. The figure includes 13 gunfire fatalities and five in the state of New York. Mr. Jensen and Mr. Hoosock died just weeks after 31-year-old Jonathan Diller was gunned down during a traffic stop in Rockaway in March.
The memorial page furthermore notes that 47 officers died on duty across the US last year.
Copyright 2024, StraightNews.org
