The two “hero” upstate law-enforcement officers killed in a Sunday night shootout with an AR-15-wielding madman have been identified as Syracuse cop Michael Jensen and decorated Onondaga County Sheriff’s Deputy and married dad of three Michael Hoosock.
“We lost two heroes last night,” Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile said at a Monday press conference. “Two men who raised their hands and answered the call of duty to protect and serve their communities — and that is exactly what they were doing when they were gunned down.”
The officers had been pursuing 33-year-old Christopher Murphy, who fled from a traffic stop in a gray Honda Civic on Sunday night in Syracuse. When the officers got to his house in the Syracuse suburb of Salina, Murphy opened fire in a bloody fusillade that killed both officers.
“We will honor their sacrifice by doing what cops do: By holding the line between lawful and unlawful, between chaos and calm, between order and disorder,” the chief said of the slain officers. “We will honor these fallen officers by picking up that badge and holding that line, because that’s what cops do.”
The gunman — identified earlier Monday as Murphy — was also fatally wounded in the battle, police said.
The officers’ deaths shocked the normally quiet area and reverberated throughout the upstate New York region.
“This is a dark day for Syracuse,” city Mayor Ben Walsh said early Monday. “This is our worst nightmare come true.”
Jensen had been with the city police for about two years and was known as an ambitious, hard-working cop.
“There are no words for it, except to tell [his family] that he was a proud officer who worked a territory car — and even after a little over two years on the job, you could tell he took his responsibility seriously to protect and serve the community,” Cecile said.
Hoosack — known his colleagues as “Hooch” — had a wife and three kids, ages 3, 5 and 7, Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley said at the press conference.
He joined the sheriff’s office in 2007, was promoted to lieutenant in June and was the commander of the unit’s bomb squad, Shelley said.
Hoosack — also an active local firefighter — had received several accommodations during his career, including a medal of valor in 2020 for helping collar a shooting suspect.
“I knew Michael Hoosock personally,” Shelley said. “He was just a good guy … just a pillar of his community. You will never find anyone who has a bad thing to say about Mike Hoosock.”
The shootout that claimed the lives of the two fallen heroes began outside Murphy’s house just before 9 p.m.
Two hours earlier, Jensen and his partner on the Syracuse PD had tried to pull Murphy over in Syracuse’s Tipp Hill neighborhood, believing his vehicle might be stolen. Murphy took off when cops tried to stop him, hitting speeds of over 100 mph before losing his pursuers.
But Jensen got his license plate, and the cops went to Murphy’s Darien Drive home in the Liverpool section of Salina, Cecile said.
The officers — along with the sheriff’s deputies including Hoosack — swarmed the house after they figured out Murphy might be armed. Cops had seen guns inside Murphy’s car, Cecile said, and heard what sounded like someone “manipulating a firearm” inside the house.
Shelley said Hoosock went into the backyard of a neighboring house to look for cover behind a maple tree.
But Murphy ambushed him, Shelley said, and let off several rounds as he stood on a back deck, killing the decorated veteran.
Then Murphy went to the front of the house, where he allegedly shot and killed Jensen.
Officers fired back, fatally wounding Murphy.
Both officers and the suspect were later pronounced dead at the Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.
Another man has been taken into custody in connection with the crimes, Shelley said.
Police believe he’s a friend of the suspect, and authorities found him trying to get over a backyard fence during the shootout.
Authorities have not charged him yet, the sheriff added.
Joe Moran, president of the police union that represents Syracuse police officers, said he was sure Jensen came to work Sunday with his “typically bright smile, ear-to-ear, and his infectious, charming personality that resonated so well with our members.”
“Unfortunately, an evil demon took him away from us and his family,” Moran said Monday. “There is not a dry eye over at the public safety building today, nor at the sheriff’s headquarters. The emotions are indescribable.”
The shootout stunned neighbors such as Mousa Alzokari, told Syracuse.com that he called 911 after he heard the crackling noise of gunfire — estimating it was about 20 rounds.
Soon after, two rifle-wielding cops busted through Alzokari’s back door and took up shooting positions on the second floor of his home, facing the suspect’s house.
There they stayed for hours, as Alzokari and his five kids cowered on the first floor, the outlet said.
After Murphy was shot, cops said there is no further threat to the community.
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.”
With Post wires
