Newsday
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A city police officer was fighting for his life late Saturday after being shot in the back of the head, authorities said.
The injured officer, who is in his early 20s and has been on the force for about year, and three others were responding to a complaint about drug activity, police said. They questioned a group of people on the street at around 3:45 p.m.
When they turned to walk away from the group, shots were fired, said Police Chief David Moore.
Investigators weren’t sure whether the shots came from that group or from farther away, Moore said.
“Whoever fired the gun this afternoon deserves to be in the ICU (intensive care unit), not that brave officer,” said Gov. David Paterson, who was in Rochester to meet with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and community leaders and went to the hospital after he heard about the shooting.
He said in a statement later Saturday that he had met with the officer’s family and could “testify to this officer’s courage and strength.”
Mayor Robert Duffy said the officer’s father is a veteran member of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and called the attack unprovoked.
“I can’t think of anything more cowardly than what happened here,” he said.
As Paterson, Duffy and other officials talked to reporters at the hospital, police blocked streets and scoured the neighborhood around the shooting site, trying to figure out where the bullets came from. They had made no arrests.
State police were joining the investigation, Paterson said.
Copyright 2009 Newsday