New York City police officer shot by armed suspect Tuesday night in the Bronx

A New York City Police Department officer was shot Tuesday in the Bronx by a man the officer had been chasing.

Commissioner Dermot Shea said the 31-year-old officer was wearing a bullet proof vest, but was shot in the lower back below the protection. The officer is reportedly in stable condition at the Jacobi Medical Center and is expected to survive.

Shea told reporter outside of the hospital that the armed man fired four shots during the encounter, and the officer fired once. The officer attempted to stop a man on Lafayette Avenue at about 10:30 p.m. 

"Within minutes, within seconds, they were in a gunfight,” said the commissioner.

The officer is part of a unit that works to get guns off the streets.

The suspect, who was taken into custody, is a 24-year-old male with several prior arrests in New York and New Jersey.

The shooting is the third of a New York City police officer in three months.

Shootings in the city doubled in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic set in, which has resulted in economic decline and increased tensions.

The city's murder rate also rose by 44%