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New York police officer shot dead after 'exchange of gunfire' New York police officer shot dead while responding to reports of gunfire
(about 2 hours later)
A police officer has died after being shot in the head while responding to a report of a man armed with a gun in New York City. A New York City police officer was shot and killed on Tuesday night while responding to reports of gunfire in East Harlem.
The officer, named by the New York police department as Randolph Holder, was fatally shot in east Harlem on Tuesday evening after chasing the suspect through a pedestrian area along the East river. The officer, identified as Randolph Holder, was a 33-year-old native of Guyana who immigrated to the US before joining the NYPD. Mayor Bill de Blasio described Holder as “an immigrant who wanted to give back to his city and his country, and who had an exemplary record as a police officer, who did everything the right way”.
The police department said an exchange of gunfire had taken place. “Officers in east Harlem responded to shots fired. According to police, at 8.30pm, Holder and his fellow officers responded to reports of gun shots at East 102nd Street and First Avenue. A male victim told responding officers that his bike had been stolen at gunpoint. Witnesses said that several men had fled, heading north on FDR Drive.
“Police officer Holder was fatally shot; a wounded suspect was apprehended four blocks away,” a statement from the department, posted on Twitter, said. Holder, a member of the Housing Bureau police service Area 5, confronted the suspect as he rode a bicycle northbound at East 120th Street along FDR Drive.
Holder, of Police Service Area 5, the housing bureau, in Manhattan, was reportedly pursuing a man on foot after a report that a bicycle had been stolen. Shots were exchanged and Holder was hit in the head. He was taken to Harlem hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead at 10.22pm.
Holder and another officer confronted the armed man and there was an exchange of gunfire, Commissioner Bill Bratton said. The officer was struck and the shooter fled on foot. The suspect was caught several blocks away with a gunshot wound to his leg. Following the altercation, the suspect fled and was apprehended at 124th Street. He was taken to Cornell Medical Center with gunshot wounds in his leg. According to the police commissioner, William Bratton, he will be taken into custody following his release on Wednesday.
Three men were taken into custody and were being questioned. A section of a busy parkway was shut down near where the officer was shot. The police also arrested three other men on Tuesday night at East 111th Street and FDR Drive. They are in custody and being questioned about their involvement. As of Wednesday morning, the FDR Drive was closed between 96th Street and 125th Street for ongoing investigations.
Police said 33-year-old Holder was the fourth police officer killed in the line of duty in New York City in the last 11 months. At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Bratton said that Holder was the fourth New York City police officer “murdered in this city in the last 11 months”. In 2015, 101 police officers have died in the line of duty in the US, with 33 of those deaths caused by gunfire, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
“That’s about as bad as it gets,” Bratton said at an emotional news conference at Harlem hospital early Wednesday morning. “New York City police officers, every day, go out and carry themselves like superheroes on the street,” said Pat Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. “But the reality is, when we’re attacked we bleed, when we bleed we die, and when we die we cry.”
Bratton said Holder was from Guyana, where his father and grandfather had both served as police officers. Holder, whose father and grandfather were also police officers in Guyana, was appointed to the department in July 2010. Bratton said he can understand the “bravery” Holden exhibited through not just his actions, but those of his father, who addressed the officers from PSA 5, following Holden’s death. Bratton explained that “as they tried to comfort him, he, in fact, was comforting them”.
“Tonight, he did what every other officer in the NYPD does. When the call comes he ran toward danger. It was the last time he will respond to that call,” Bratton said. Holder exhibited his bravery when he “did what every other officer in the NYPD does when the call comes”, according to the police commissioner.
Dozens of Holder’s fellow officers stood outside the hospital early Wednesday and saluted as the ambulance carrying their fallen colleague left. Afterward, many embraced one another. “He ran toward danger,” Bratton said. “It was the last time he will respond to that call.”
Bratton said the suspect was expected to be released from a hospital early on Wednesday and transferred to police custody. The suspect was not identified. As the ambulance carrying Holden’s body left the hospital early on Wednesday morning, dozens of NYPD officers saluted the vehicle, according to the AP. After its departure, some of the officers embraced.
The New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, said the dead officer was “an immigrant who wanted to give back to his city and his country … who had an exemplary record”.
He added: “We’re all in mourning tonight. This whole city is in mourning … We’re humbled by Officer Randolph Holder’s example.”
Bratton had earlier tweeted that he was at the hospital with the officer and asked New Yorkers to keep him in their prayers.
So far in 2015, 101 police officers have died in the line of duty in the US, with 33 of those deaths caused by gunfire according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. By early Wednesday Holder’s name already had been added to the list.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.