New York police officer 'assassinated' as she sat in car

A New York City police officer was “assassinated” by a man who shot her as she sat in a marked car.

According to police, the suspect, armed with a revolver, fired through the passenger window of the car and hit Officer Miosotis Familia in the head whilst she was working in the Bronx.

Officer Familia, who was a mother-of-three and a member of the force for 12 years, was rushed to hospital but later died of her injuries.

The suspect, 34-year-old Alexander Bonds, fled from the scene as Officer Familia’s police partner frantically radioed for help from colleagues.

According to the Associated Press, the officer shouted down the radio "shots fired! 10-85" – referring to the code used for ‘officer down’, adding: “My partner's shot! My partner's shot! My partner's shot! Hurry up central!"

Police said they caught Bonds a block away and, after a standoff, he was shot dead.

A bystander was hit in the stomach by a bullet during and is in stable condition, police said.

"This was an unprovoked direct attack on police officers who were assigned to keep the people of this city safe," Police Commissioner James O'Neill said, adding that it was “an assassination”.

Officer Familia, 48, had been sitting in a police truck and was looking down, writing in her memo book, when Bonds walked up and opened fire.

Bonds, who had been on parole for a robbery case in Syracuse, New York, was seen in CCTV footage marching up to the post "with purpose”.

In a video posted on Facebook in September, he ranted about the treatment of civilians by officers and talks about how hard life was behind bars.

"Don't think every brother, cousin, uncle you got that get killed in jail is because of a blood or crip or Latin King killing them. Nah, police be killing them and saying that an inmate killed them," he said in the video.

Mayor Bill de Blasio described the shooting as a “shocking and sudden attack” and said Officer Familia was “on duty serving this city, protecting people, doing what she believed in and doing the job she loved”.

Officers saluted at attention outside the Bronx hospital as the ambulance and police motorcade escorted Familia's body from the hospital.

The Bronx neighbourhood was blocked off with police tape as officers investigated the deadly shooting. Police were combing for any other surveillance footage and talking to witnesses.