Syracuse officers killed in shooting are named along with suspect who lured them to house and then ambushed them after fleeing while trying to stop his vehicle

Police have identified the officer and a sheriff’s deputy who were fatally shot in upstate New York by a man who himself was killed by law enforcement in a gunfight.

Officer Michael Jensen, 29, and sheriff’s deputy Michael Hoosock, 37, were killed in a shootout Sunday night shortly after 1 p.m. 20 in Liverpool, about six miles north of Syracuse.

Jensen had previously tried to stop a car believed to be driven by the suspected shooter, 33-year-old Christopher Murphy.

But the driver refused to stop and eluded police, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Monday.

Officers were able to identify the number plate and traced it to an address in nearby Liverpool.

They requested assistance from the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile said during a news conference.

Officers located the vehicle at the home and saw what appeared to be weapons inside the car.

At one point, “they heard what sounded like someone handling a firearm from inside the residence,” Cecile said.

Inside the house, Murphy had told a friend that the police were not going to arrest him and that the friend had to leave.

The friend ran from the house. Murphy began firing a high-capacity weapon, Fitzpatrick said.

‘We believe the first officer shot is a sheriff’s deputy in the back of the house. And I don’t think he knew what was coming,’ Fitzpatrick said.

Murphy came out of the house and fired at four Syracuse police officers who were out front, hitting one near the armpit in an area not protected by the officer’s vest. Two officers returned fire, including the officer who was shot, the prosecutor said.

The Syracuse officer, the sheriff’s deputy and the suspect were taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.

All three were pronounced dead at the hospital, Cecile said.

“We lost two heroes tonight,” she added.

Hoosock was a veteran public servant, having spent 16 years as a fire department captain and lieutenant in Moyers Coners, a paramedic for Rural Metro Syracuse as well as a law enforcement officer.

– To say he will be missed is an extreme understatement. Whether it was in service to the fire department, law enforcement or as an EMS provider, everyone knew how dedicated he was to the community,” the fire department said in a Facebook post.

“Even as a lieutenant he was out in the community providing proactive policing and helping in any way he could with his vast and varied experience.”

Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley said the deputy had been with the department for a long time and was ‘just a great guy.’

Jensen had just joined the local police department two years earlier from nearby Rome, New York. Cecile described him as ambitious and hardworking.

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was “appalled by the senseless killing” of the two officers.

‘My prayers are with their families, their loved ones and their colleagues,’ the governor wrote on X. ‘New York will never forget their heroism and service.’

The officers were the first law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in Onondaga County since Officer Wallie Howard Jr. was shot and killed during an undercover drug operation in October 1990, officials said.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said: ‘This is a dark day for Syracuse. This is our worst nightmare come true.’

Shelley said police planned to search the house as part of the ongoing investigation.

Murphy had no criminal record other than being charged with driving under the influence a decade ago, Fitzpatrick said.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Syracuse Police Department for further comment.