A suspect shot two Rochester Police Department officers Thursday night, leaving one dead and another injured.
Officers Anthony Mazurkiewicz and Officer Sino Seng “were attacked in a cowardly ambush” while working patrol on Bauman Street, according to a Rochester Police Department press release. Mazurkiewicz, a father, husband and 29-year veteran, took at least one shot to the upper body, and died of his wounds in hospital. Seng, an 8-year veteran, was taken to Rochester General Hospital, where he was treated.
Statement from the Chief of Police, David Smith. pic.twitter.com/a5l0fdEnHa
— Rochester NY Police (@RochesterNYPD) July 22, 2022
The slain Rochester officer represents the most recent victim of the “very violence in our community that we are trying to combat,” Police Chief David Smith said in a statement.
Thursday’s attack is not the first time officers have been intentionally targeted in Rochester. Officers were authorized in 2020 to remove their name tags after protesters researched officers’ names to distribute personal information to the public, News 10 reported. (RELATED: Here Are All The Police Officers Killed In The Line Of Duty Since Calls To ‘Defund The Police’ Began)
The shooting took place mere hours after Rochester Mayor Malik Evans issued a local state of emergency to address “unprecedented levels of gun violence,” according to a news release.
Rochester ranks fifth in the nation for the number of homicides based on findings in a report from the Rochester Institute of Technology, trailing only behind Richmond, Virginia, Detroit, New Orleans and St. Louis.