Law enforcement has identified the officer and a sheriff’s deputy who were fatally shot in upstate New York by a man who was himself killed in a shootout with law enforcement. Officer Michael Jensen, 29, and Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Hoosock, 37, were killed in a gunfire exchange on Sunday evening after 8 p.m. in Liverpool, about six miles north of Syracuse.
The police force is mourning the death of the two hero officers. Jensen had earlier tried to stop a vehicle believed to be driven by the suspected shooter, 33-year-old Christopher Murphy. However, the driver refused to stop and evaded police, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said on Monday.
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Authorities were able to identify the license plate and traced it to an address in the nearby area of Liverpool. They requested help from the Onondaga County Sheriff´s Office, Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile said at a news conference.
The officers found the vehicle at the home and saw what appeared to be firearms inside the vehicle. Subsequently, they “heard what sounded like someone manipulating a firearm from inside the residence,” Cecile said.
Inside the house, Murphy had told a friend that the police were not going to arrest him and asked the friend to leave. The friend fled from the home, and at that point, Murphy began firing a high-capacity weapon, according to Fitzpatrick.
“We believe the first officer shot is a sheriff´s deputy in the rear of the house. And I don´t believe he knew what was coming,” Fitzpatrick said.
Murphy came out of the house and opened fire on four Syracuse police officers stationed outside, hitting one in an area near the armpit that was not shielded by the officer’s vest. Two officers returned fire, including the officer who had been shot, the prosecutor said.
The injured Syracuse officer, the sheriff’s deputy, and the suspect were transported to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.
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All three were pronounced dead at the hospital, Cecile said. “We lost two heroes tonight,” she added. Hoosock was a dedicated public servant with a long career, having served for 16 years as a fire department captain and lieutenant in Moyers Corners.
He also worked as a paramedic for Rural Metro Syracuse and served as a law enforcement officer.
“To say he will be missed is an extreme understatement. Whether it was in the service of the Fire Department, Law Enforcement, or as an EMS provider, everyone knew how dedicated he was to the community,” the fire department said in a Facebook post.
“Even as a Lieutenant, he was out in the community providing proactive policing, and helping any way that he could with his vast and varied background of experience.”
Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley said Hoosock had been with the department for a long time and praised him as “just a great guy.”
Jensen, who had recently joined the local police department from nearby Rome, New York, was described by Cecile as ambitious and hardworking.
Officials said that the officers were the first law enforcement officers to be killed in the line of duty in Onondaga County since Officer Wallie Howard Jr. was fatally shot during an undercover drug operation in October 1990.
Fitzpatrick said that Murphy had no criminal record aside from a charge of driving while intoxicated approximately a decade ago.
