Two New York Police Department officers were shot during a gun battle in the Bronx on Monday, NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said. The officers were shot when a gunman opened fire on them after he entered a parked car, then ran away, according to Monahan.
NYPD officers Sonny Kim and Rafael Ramos were in plainclothes when they ran into the car in Eastchester Manor, N.Y., Monahan said. One of the officers fired shots at the gunman before he ran from the car. He then again approached the officers as they were in their vehicle and began firing again.
“Both officers are both responding to this in a combat mode, and are struck,” said Monahan.
After multiple attempts to revive the officers in the ambulance, Kim and Ramos were pronounced dead at Jacobi Medical Center. The injured suspect was captured by police.
“The department mourns two heroes who protect this city every day,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Our entire city is thinking about and praying for their families.”
Ramos and Kim were assigned to the 81st Precinct in Eastchester, N.Y., Monahan said. They had been on the job for seven years and six years respectively.
Investigators arrested Gunatyme Scott-Clark, 23, in connection with the shooting. Scott-Clark was in custody at the hospital.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that the attack “wishes to hurt law enforcement.”
“Our service to our country includes serving in police uniform and we continue to be of one purpose and one uniform in the faces of those who would threaten us and our service,” Sessions said.
A shooting in Ozone Park, Queens last Tuesday, killed a New York City police officer, Wenjian Liu, and wounded his partner Rafael Ramos.
(This article is written by Andrew P. Davis from USA Today, with additional reporting by Brendan McGarry.)
Andrew P. Davis is a retired New York City police officer. He has been a USA TODAY columnist and police reporter. You can read more of his work at followandreaap.com.