New York cop in stable condition after being ambushed, shot in head

NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- A New York police officer is in critical but stable condition after a former felon ambushed and shot him in the head Saturday night, according to reports.

Officer Brian Moore, 25, was rushed by patrol car to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he underwent surgery following the incident in Queens, according to New York police Commissioner William Bratton.

Police on Sunday charged Demetrius Blackwell, 35, with attempted murder, assault and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

Officers accuse Blackwell -- a convicted felon who had previously spent time in prison for weapon possession, robbery and attempted murder charges -- of shooting Moore, who, while wearing civilian clothes with his partner in an unmarked car, had approached Blackwell for "walking and adjusting an object in his waistband."

An hour after the ambush, officers apprehended Blackwell, whom they say lived on the same block.

In late December two New York police officers, Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, were shot to death while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn. Their killer, Ismaaiyla Brinsley, 28, had previously posted online that he was seeking retribution for the death of Eric Garner, who died after being put in a chokehold by New York police officers during an arrest.

The killing also follows last week's indictment of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man who died in police custody.

Gray's death incited rioting in Baltimore and widespread national protests, including in New York City.

Moore and his partner were seeking Blackwell to speak with him in relation to a criminal investigation, police say, though it is unclear whether he was a suspect or a witness, and it was his suspicious behavior that drew the officers' attention at the time of Saturday's shooting.