Two police officers, who had been following up on a traffic violation, were killed in a shooting ambush on Sunday evening outside a house in an upstate New York town near Syracuse, the authorities said.
The officers, of the Syracuse Police Department, attempted to stop a vehicle around 7 p.m. on Sunday. The driver fled, but the officers used the vehicle’s license plate to track it to a house in Liverpool, a village in the suburban town of Salina. When the officers learned that the vehicle’s driver might be armed, they requested assistance, and deputies from Onondaga County arrived, Chief Joseph L. Cecile of the Syracuse Police Department told reporters at a news conference early Monday morning.
The officers found the parked vehicle, and saw ammunition inside, according to the Onondaga County district attorney, William J. Fitzpatrick. A deputy approached the house from the rear, while two police officers approached from the front, Mr. Fitzpatrick said. Officers then “heard what sounded like someone manipulating a firearm from inside the residence” before shots rang out, Chief Cecile said.
The deputy at the back of the property was shot, as was one of the officers in the front. Officers returned fire, striking the shooter, identified by the district attorney as Christopher Murphy, 33.
Mr. Murphy and both officers were later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Mr. Murphy had no criminal history, besides an arrest 10 years ago on a drunken-driving charge. On Sunday, he was in the house with a friend, using cocaine, when the officers arrived, Mr. Fitzpatrick said. Mr. Murphy armed himself with some sort of assault rifle and urged his friend to leave, according to what the friend later told the police, Mr. Fitzpatrick said.
The moments leading up to the killings appeared routine.
“We’re chasing cars every day,” said Tobias Shelley, the Onondaga County sheriff, on Sunday night.
Sheriff Shelley said that officers were investigating the shootout and that there was no danger to the community.
“It’s a dark day for Syracuse,” the city’s mayor, Ben Walsh, said at the news conference. “This is our worst nightmare come true.”
The post 2 Police Officers Are Killed in Shootout Near Syracuse, New York appeared first on New York Times.