2 cops die in shootout chasing driver who fled traffic stop in New York - Times of India

Source: The Times of India

LIVERPOOL: Two police officers were killed in a shootout on Sunday outside a house in an upstate New York town near Syracuse, where they had tracked a vehicle whose driver had fled a traffic stop earlier.

Two Syracuse police officers attempted to stop a vehicle at around 7pm (local time). The driver fled, but the officers used the vehicle's licence plate to track it to a house in Liverpool, a village in the suburban town of Salina.When the police learned that the vehicle's driver might be armed, they requested assistance, and deputies from Onondaga county arrived, chief Joseph Cecile of the Syracuse police department said. The officers found the parked vehicle, saw guns inside and "heard what sounded like someone manipulating a firearm from inside the residence" before shots rang out, Cecile said.

At least three people were struck in the ensuing shootout, including a Syracuse police officer, a sheriff's deputy and one male suspect. All three were later pronounced dead.

Officials said details were few in the hours immediately after the shooting, but the moments leading up to the killings appeared routine. "We're chasing cars every day," said county sheriff Tobias Shelley. Shelley said officers were investigating and that there was no danger to the community.