Update: Two men, 28-year-old Joshua Kemp and 24-year-old James Polanco, were arrested Tuesday in connection with a shootout in the Bronx that left a pair of plainclothes officers wounded late Monday, New York Police Department officials said, adding that charges are expected to be filed.
A manhunt was under way early Tuesday for at least two suspects who shot and wounded two New York City police officers - one critically - during an armed robbery investigation in the Bronx.
The shooting occurred after an anti-crime team responded to an armed robbery at a grocery store near East 184th Street in the Tremont section on Monday night, New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said in a statement.
Andrew Dossi, 30, who suffered gunshot wounds to his left arm and lower back, remains in critical condition and was in surgery early Tuesday. Aliro Pellerano, 38, was shot in his left arm and chest, and is reportedly in stable condition, New York Daily News reported.
"They went above and beyond the call to protect their fellow New Yorkers. Thank God the officers are doing well and will recover," Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the Bronx hospital where the officers are recovering.
Since one of the gunmen was suspected to have been wounded in the gunfire, authorities were attempting to determine whether a man who walked into a hospital in upper Manhattan with a gunshot wound to his back shortly after the shooting was connected to the incident.
The shooting comes about two weeks after two NYPD officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were fatally shot while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn, and one day after Liu was buried.
Around 10:30 p.m. Monday, the two officers were coming off their shift when they, and three other plainclothes officers, responded to a report of a grocery store robbery, the Associated Press reported.
After spotting two possible suspects several blocks away from the grocery store and approaching them, one suspect went inside a Chinese restaurant and the other stayed outside, Bratton said.
The suspect in the restaurant opened fire when the officers got out of their car to approach the suspect standing outside, forcing them to shoot back. Shortly after, the two suspects fled and then carjacked a white Camaro, which was later found abandoned. A revolver was also recovered nearby.
Meanwhile, investigators are still trying to determine whether the suspects who shot the officers were involved in the reported robbery. They have been described as two Latino men between the ages of 25 and 30, with one of them sporting a close-cropped full beard, Bratton said.
Video surveillance from the robbery and a photo of the recovered gun has been released by the New York City Police Department to help identify the suspects, according to Fox News.
In addition, a $10,000 reward is being offered by the organization COP SHOT, Citizens Outraged at Police Being Shot, leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.
