Suspect shoots US cop in head

NEW YORK: A New York City plainclothes policeman was seriously injured when he was shot in the head on Saturday while attempting to question a man from his cruiser, and authorities said a suspect had been arrested and was in custody.

Brian Moore, 25, was in a critical but stable condition following surgery at Jamaica Hospital Medical Centre.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio said Moore was “very, very seriously injured”.

“It’s a reminder of the dangers all of our officers face every single day,” de Blasio told a news conference at the hospital.

The shooting comes at a time of increased national focus both on the use of force by law enforcement officers and the dangers of police work. On Friday, six officers were charged in the death of a Baltimore man who was injured while in police custody.

De Blasio’s relations with New York City police fell sharply after two city officers were shot and killed in December as they sat in their patrol car.

Hundreds of officers turned their backs when de Blasio delivered a eulogy at one of the officer’s funerals, angry at what they saw as his failure to support them during a wave of anti-police protests in the city late last year.

Police arrested Demetrius Blackwell, 35, who shot at Moore and another officer while they were in their car in a middle-class neighbourhood in the borough of Queens, said New York Police Commissioner William Bratton.

Bratton said the officers were trying to question Blackwell, who had an extensive criminal background, after they observed him appearing to adjust an object in his waistband.

Blackwell “removed a firearm from his waistband and… fired several times into the vehicle”, Bratton said. – Reuters