Police officer, sheriff's deputy and shooter killed in exchange of gunfire in upstate NY, police say

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (AP) — A police officer and a sheriff's deputy were shot and killed in an upstate New York suburb by a man who was killed by law enforcement in an exchange of gunfire, authorities said Monday.

The shootings took place shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday in a residential neighborhood of Liverpool, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) north of Syracuse, claiming the lives of Onondaga County Sheriff's Office Lt. Michael Hoosock and Syracuse police officer Michael Jensen.

The slain Syracuse police officer had earlier attempted to pull over a car believed to have been driven by Christopher Murphy, 33. But the driver refused to pull over and eluded police, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told The Associated Press on Monday.

Officers were able to identify the license plate and tracked it to an address in nearby Liverpool. They requested assistance from the sheriff’s office.

Officers were inspecting the vehicle and moving around the house they heard what sounded like “a gun being manipulated,” so they took cover, Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile said during a news conference on Monday afternoon.

Inside the house, Murphy had told a friend police were not going to arrest him and that the friend needed to leave. The friend ran from the house and was apprehended, authorities said.

Hoosock, a 17-year veteran of the force with a wife and three young children, was looking for cover behind a maple tree in an adjacent yard when he was ambushed. The suspect fired from a back deck, Sheriff Toby Shelley said at the Monday briefing.

“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.

Jensen, on the force for less than three years, was struck after the suspect went to to the front of the house and fired on Syracuse police officers with an AR-15-style rifle. Jensen was among the officers who returned fire, police said.

Fitzpatrick said the officer was struck near the armpit in an area not protected by his vest.

The Syracuse officer, sheriff’s deputy and the suspect were brought to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. All three were pronounced dead at the hospital, Cecile said.

“We lost two heroes last night,” Cecile said.

New York 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.”

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 shot to death during an undercover drug operation in October 1990, officials said.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said, "This is a dark day for Syracuse. This is our worst nightmare come true.”

Murphy had no criminal record beyond being charged with driving while intoxicated a decade ago, Fitzpatrick said.

The investigation was continuing.

“There’s nothing routine out there in this day and age at all for law enforcement,” Cecile said.

An earlier version of this report had incorrect spelling of Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley's last name.

Transport ambulances carry the bodies of two slain officers to the Wally Howard Forensics Science Center in Syracuse, N.Y. early Monday morning, April 15, 2024. Police officers from several local agencies gathered at Upstate hospital's emergency room to hear the news of two slain officers. (Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard via AP)

Police set up a perimeter after two officers were shot, in Salina, N.Y., Sunday, April 14, 2024. (Scott Schild/The Post-Standard via AP)

Police officers salute as the bodies of two officers are transported to the Wally Howard Forensics Science Center in Syracuse, N.Y., Monday, April 15, 2024. Police officers from several local agencies gathered at Upstate hospital's emergency room to hear the news of the slain officers. (Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard via AP)

Armed law enforcement officers patrol around the scene of a shooting in Liverpool, N.Y., Sunday, April 14, 2024. A police officer and a sheriff's deputy in upstate New York were shot and killed Sunday night in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect, who also was killed, police said. (WSYR-TV Syracuse via AP)

Armed law enforcement officers patrol around the scene of a shooting in Liverpool, N.Y., Sunday, April 14, 2024. A police officer and a sheriff's deputy in upstate New York were shot and killed Sunday night in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect, who also was killed, police said. (WSYR-TV Syracuse via AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked Tennessee from enforcing a law banning adults from helping minors get an abortion without parental permission.

In a 49-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger argued that the Republican-controlled state cannot “make it a crime to communicate freely” about legal abortion options even in a state where abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy except for a handful of situations. Trauger's decision means that the law will be placed on hold as the case make its way through court.

“The Tennessee General Assembly apparently determined that, when the topic at hand is ‘abortion trafficking,’ the best interests of the pregnant child are not merely a secondary consideration, but unworthy of particularized consideration at all,” Trauger wrote.

Earlier this year, Tennessee’s Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Bill Lee signed off on a proposal making it illegal for an adult who “intentionally recruits, harbors, or transports” a pregnant child or teen within the state to get an abortion without consent from the minor’s parents or guardians. Those convicted of breaking the law risked being charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which requires a nearly one-year jail sentence.

The law, which went into effect July 1, did not contain exemptions for minors who may have been raped by their parents or guardians. Instead, the statute dictated that biological fathers who cause the pregnancy of their daughters, if minors, couldn't pursue legal actions.

The Tennessee law mimicked the so-called “ abortion trafficking ” law enacted in Idaho last year, the first state to ever enact such a statute. However, a federal judge has since temporarily blocked Idaho's version as the case moves through court.

Just before the law was poised to go into effect, Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn and Nashville attorney Rachel Welty filed a lawsuit on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion.

Behn called the Tennessee ruling a “monumental victory for free speech and the fight for abortion rights.

“This ruling doesn't just protect Tennesseans — it safeguards the freedom to discuss abortion care across state lines, ensuring that we can continue to offer support, share accurate information, and stand up for the rights of those seeking essential health care everywhere,” she said.

A spokesperson for Attorney General's office, who was fighting to get the case dismissed, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday's ruling.

Trauger's decision sided with Welty and Behn's argument that the Tennessee law was "unconstitutionally vague,” specifically stressing that the word “recruits” is undefined in the statute.

Trauger also raised several First Amendment concerns in her explanation that her ruling would apply across the state, not just to Welty and Behn.

“The freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment is not simply a special protection that the Constitution grants to a few, high-profile speakers so that those speakers can hear themselves talk; it is a protection available to everyone, for the interconnected benefit of everyone, because messages do not gain their fullest power by being uttered, but by being spread,” Trauger wrote.

Tennessee bans abortions at all stages of pregnancy, but there are exemptions in cases of molar pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies, and to remove a miscarriage or to save the life of the mother. Notably, doctors must use their “reasonable medical” judgment — a term that some say is too vague and can be challenged by fellow medical officials — in deciding whether providing the procedure can save the life of the pregnant patient or prevent major injury.

A group of women is currently suing in a separate case to clarify the state’s abortion ban. A court decision is expected soon on whether the lawsuit can continue or if Tennessee's abortion ban can be placed on hold as the legal battle continues.

FILE - An. Abortion rights demonstrator holds a sign during a rally on May 14, 2022, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)