An armed opened fire and shot dead two police officers sitting inside a patrol car in New York City before killing himself.
Two New York City police officers have died after being shot inside a patrol car Saturday afternoon, according to police. Authorities say the gunman then killed himself.
The shooting took place in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Both officers were rushed to Woodhull hospital, where one was pronounced dead, police said. The second officer was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Police say the suspect fatally shot himself inside a subway station. His motive wasn’t immediately clear.
The shooting comes at a tense time. Police in New York are being criticized for their tactics following the chokehold death of Eric Garner, who was stopped by police on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.
Demonstrators around the country have staged die-ins and other protests since a grand jury decided December 3 not to indict the officer in Eric Garner’s death, a decision that closely followed a Missouri grand jury’s refusal to indict a white officer in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.
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During the Labor Day weekend in New York the number of shot people has risen to 43, after violence started at the annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.
In the 24 hours, from Saturday 6 a.m. to Sunday 6 a.m., 24 people were shot, the victims were shot during 15 separate incidents, and so far no arrests have been made.
The latest shooting, left a police officer wounded and a civilian dead just a few blocks off the route where revelers had earlier filled the streets in colorful costumes.
During the Labor Day weekend in New York the number of shot people has risen to 43, after violence started at the 2011 West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn
The police officer was hit in the arm and hospitalized but expected to recover, the civilian died at the scene and at least two others were wounded.
According to police, earlier in the day four people were shot and wounded during the parade along its route. A 15-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet nearby.
Charles Walters, 53 – who’s 11-year-old son was one of the victims on Sunday – to the New York Daily News:
“These people come with guns and shoot at anyone.
“They don’t care if there are children around.”
Shaquan Walters, his son, was the youngest of eight shot in the early hours of Sunday as he partied in his Bronx back yard.
At the same event, a 14-year-old girl was hit in the back, while a 13-year-old girl was hit in the left thigh during the 3:39 a.m. shooting.
In the Williamsbridge shooting, there were five young men wounded, aged 17, 18, 19, 21 and 24.
According to police, Oneil Dasilva, 17 could be the suspect in connection with the incident.
After Brooklyn violence at the Labor Day Parade, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on politicians in Washington to enact stricter gun laws.
Speaking at the Christian Cultural Centre in Brooklyn yesterday Mayor Bloomberg said:
“It is just unconscionable.We cannot tolerate it.
“There are just too many guns on the streets and we have to do something about it.
“We need the federal government to step up. Both ends of Pennsylvania Ave., both sides of the aisle.”
Michael Bloomberg is a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns and has rallied Washington for tighter gun laws in the past.
Bloomberg added:
“We cannot continue to have these guns in the hands of kids who don’t understand the value of life.”
The Labor Day weekend’s shootings began at around 6 a.m. on Saturday when a 35-year-old woman was wounded in Brooklyn.
Monday at 2 a.m., a 30-year-old died from bullet wounds to the head and back in Flatbush.
From 2:12 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Sunday five men were shot in three separate incidents.
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