Officer fatally shot in New York

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A police officer was fatally shot and another wounded in Rochester, New York, officials said, Friday.

The officers were on patrol as part of a plainclothes tactical unit when they were shot around 9:15 p.m., Thursday, authorities said.

Police Chief David Smith identified the slain officer as Anthony Mazurkiewicz, a 29year member of the department.

“Last night, Officer Mazurkiewicz and his partner, Officer Sino Seng, were attacked in a cowardly ambush and fell victim to the very violence in our community that we are trying to combat,” Smith said at a briefing, Friday.

Mazurkiewicz was shot at least once in the upper body, Smith said. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. Seng was treated at another hospital and released.

A bystander suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and was treated at the scene, authorities said.

No arrests had been made as of Friday morning. Smith said “the full force of the region’s law enforcement” was being deployed “to bring whoever is responsible for this heinous act to justice.”

The officers were shot the same day that Mayor Malik Evans declared a “gun violence state of emergency” after a recent spate of shootings in Rochester, a city of about 200,000 on the shores of Lake Ontario.

“Tony Mazurkiewicz could have easily retired, but he chose to continue going on the streets because he didn’t want folks in our neighborhoods to be held hostage by the very cowards that are wreaking havoc in our community,” Evans said in a written statement, Friday.

“Not only am I sad for the Mazurkiewicz family — and we pray for the speedy recovery of Sino Seng — I am angry. And upset. Because all too often, we are seeing a blatant disregard for life,” he said.