A New York police officer was fatally shot, and another was injured, after a shootout on Friday, officials said.
“It’s with tremendous sorrow that I inform of you of the murder of NYPD Sergeant Paul Tuozzolo,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters on Friday.
According to the police commissioner, James O’Neill, the shooting took place on Friday afternoon when two officers, Touzzolo and Emmanuel Kwo, identified the vehicle of a suspect of a home invasion in the Bronx borough of New York. The suspect fired at the officers with a handgun as they approached his vehicle, leading to an exchange of gunfire which left him fatally shot.
After the shooting, the officers were rushed to the Jacobi medical center. Tuozzolo succumbed to his wounds, while Kwo is expected to survive a shot to the leg.
Officials said the suspect was 35-year-old Manuel Rosales. He reportedly broke into the home of his estranged wife, where his three-year-old son, a 13-year-old child, and a 51-year old woman were also present. Officers received a description of his vehicle, which is how Kwo and Touzzolo later identified him.
De Blasio and O’Neill said they told Touzzolo’s wife and parents an hour before they made the news public.
“The city is mourning and the family is mourning,” said De Blasio.
Four NYPD officers have been killed in the last two years, most recently Randolph Holder who was shot in the head in October last year.
Two days ago, two officers were shot in the Des Moines area in Iowa in “ambush-style” killings, triggering a manhunt for the suspect in the case, who was captured eventually.
Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed the officer had passed away in a statement.
“Today, a sergeant in the New York City police department has made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, and another officer is undergoing treatment,” he said. “My deepest sympathies are with the families of the officers involved in today’s tragedy in the Bronx, and with Commissioner O’Neill and the NYPD as they cope with the loss of one of their own.”
