UPDATE: Suspect named in NYPD officer killing

New York City is mourning the loss of NYPD officer Randolph Holder, who died on Tuesday night after being shot in the head by a suspect he was pursuing on foot.

Police on Wednesday afternoon identified the shooting suspect, who has not been charged yet, as Tyrone Howard, 30. Hewas wanted in connection to an earlier shooting in the same neighborhood when the gunfight with NYPD officers beganaround 8:30 p.m., officials said in the Daily News article, which added that officials claimHoward’s criminal history includes arrests for assault, robbery, criminal trespass, public lewdness and conspiracy.

Holder was shot in the forehead around 8:30 p.m. at the footbridge over the FDR East River Drive at East 120th Street in East Harlem. Holder, an officer with the PSA 5 Housing Bureau Anti-Crime Unit, had responded to calls of shots fired and a stolen bicycle, police said.

He returned fire, hitting the suspect in the leg.

Holder, 33, was taken to Harlem Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 10:22 p.m. The suspect is being treated at Weill Cornell Medical Center, and is expected to be released into police custody on Wednesday.

The NYPD continued to look for evidence on Wednesday morning, and recovered one gun, and shell casing from three guns, according to the Associated Press.

Holder, who was born in Guyana, was a five-year veteran of the NYPD. His father and grandfather were law enforcement officers in Guyana.

“I didn’t know him, but I can assure you that the Guyanese community is shocked and extend our sympathy to the family,” said Claire Ann Goring, arts and cultural director of the Guyanese Cultural Association. “Especially with his father and grandfather being members of the police force, obviously this is a family who treasures the idea of law and order, and for him to be killed this way in the line of duty, we certainly feel for his family.”

In a press conference held at the hospital, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Holder “did what every officer in the NYPD does when the call comes — he ran toward danger. It was the last time he will respond to that call.”

Holder is the fourth NYPD officer killed in the last 11 months. Last December, Det. Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot and killed while sitting in the back of their patrol car in Bed-Stuy. The suspect shot himself in a nearby subway station a short time later. In June, Det. Brian Moore was shot in Queens by a suspect who fired into his car. The suspect, Demetrius Blackwell, was apprehended a short time later. He has pleaded not guilty on charges of first-degree murder.

Both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have ordered city and state flags to half-staff until Holder is buried.

This story is developing. Check back here for breaking updates.