Authorities have released the names of the Syracuse police officer and Onondaga County sheriff’s deputy who were killed in the line of duty Sunday night.
Officer Michael Jensen and Lieutenant Deputy Michael Hoosock were killed Sunday night after exchanging gunfire with a suspect, who was also killed.
“There are no words for it except to tell them that [Jensen] was a proud officer who worked a territory car and after a little over two years on the job you could tell he took it seriously. to protect and serve the community,” Syracuse Police Chief Cecile said, according to WSYR-TV.
Jensen graduated from Le Moyne College, where he played on its club ice hockey team. He had been a police officer for two-and-a-half years, after graduating from the Syracuse Police Academy in 2022.
“It was very difficult to sit there with the family of a son who is two and a half years on the job, and they talk about how proud he was of that uniform and that badge, and I saw it when I went to roll calls and [Syracuse Police Benevolent Association President Joe] Moran said it that officer had a smile on his face every time,” Cecile added.
Hoosock had been with the Onondaga Sheriff’s Office since 2007 and received the Medal of Valor and New York State Deputy of the Year award.
“[He] Had a wife, three young children ages three, five, and seven. He was our watch commander, our bomb squad commander. He received multiple accommodations and medals,” Onondaga Sheriff Toby Shelley said.
Hoosock made lieutenant last June.
“I knew Hoosock personally everybody knew him as ‘hooch’ you may have seen him last week if you were at the ribbon cutting at 57 and 31, he was a very active member of Moyers Corners fire department, and they were there for that ribbon cutting,” Shelley said, according to WSYR.
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On Sunday evening, Jensen and another officer attempted to pull over a suspicious vehicle, which fled the scene, the New York Post reported. The officers tracked the license plate to a home in Liverpool. More Syracuse officers arrived, along with Onondaga County sheriff’s deputies, and found what appeared to be firearms inside the car. Law enforcement then heard what sounded like someone “manipulating a firearm” inside the home, Cecile said in an early Monday morning press conference.
“Moments later there was an exchange of gunfire between at least one suspect and the officers and the deputies,” he added.
Jensen and Hoosock were both struck and rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The suspect was taken to the hospital, where he was also pronounced dead.
“We lost two heroes tonight,” Cecile said at the Monday press conference. “Two men who answered the call to duty to put on the badge to protect the community, protect and serve. We lost two of them tonight.”