The two “hero” upstate law-enforcement officers killed in a Sunday night shootout with a gun-wielding madman have been identified as Syracuse cop Michael Jenson and Onondaga County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Hoosock.
Jensen had been with the department for about three years and was known as an ambitious, hard-working policeman.
The sheriff’s deputy had been with the office for a longer time and “was just a great guy,” according to county Sheriff Toby Shelley.
“This is a dark day for Syracuse,” city Mayor Ben Walsh said earlier Monday. “This is our worst nightmare come true.”
Authorities identified the officers’ killer earlier Monday as Christopher Murphy, a 33-year-old man from the Syracuse suburb of Salina.
Murphy also died during the gun battle, which happened outside his house about 9 p.m.
Cops had trailed Murphy after he ignored their attempts to pull him over in Syracuse’s Tipp Hill neighborhood two hours earlier, according to Syracuse.com. Authorities had gotten a report that he may have been driving a stolen car.
The Syracuse cops then called for help from the local sheriff’s office when they learned the driver might be armed — and used Murphy’s license plate to track him to his Darien Drive home in the Liverpool section of Salina.
The officers rolled up on the house and saw guns inside Murphy’s car, according to Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile. They also heard what sounded like someone “manipulating a firearm” inside the house, he added.
The confrontation between the suspect and officers quickly escalated — and the resulting shootout left both cops and Murphy with the bullet wounds that eventually claimed their lives.
All three were later pronounced dead at the Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.
A neighbor, Mousa Alzokari, told Syracuse.com that he called 911 after he heard the crackling noise of gunfire — estimating it was about 20 rounds.
Soon after, two rifle-wielding cops busted through Alzokari’s back door and took up shooting positions on the second floor of his home, facing the suspect’s house.
There they stayed for hours, as Alzokari and his five kids cowered on the first floor, the outlet said.
After Murphy was shot, cops said there is no further threat to the community.
“We lost two heroes tonight,” Cecile said of the dead officers.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was “horrified by the senseless killing” of the two officers.
“My prayers are with their families, loved ones, and their colleagues,” the governor posted on X. “New York will never forget their heroism and service.”
With Post wires
