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(Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar)Police salute outside the Christ Tabernacle Church as the casket of slain New York Police Department (NYPD) officer Rafael Ramos is carried from the church following his funeral service in the Queens borough of New York December 27, 2014. Targeted for their uniform, Ramos and Wenjian Liu were slain last Saturday afternoon while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn in what is only the seventh instance of police partners being killed together in the city in more than 40 years. Thousands of police officers from departments around the country, including those in St. Louis, Atlanta, Boston, New Orleans and Washington, D.C., were expected to join U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and other officials for the funeral service at the church on Saturday.
Two plainclothes NYPD officers were shot on Monday night while trying to stop a robbery in the Bronx.
Officers Andrew Dossi and Aliro Pellarano returned to the scene of a robbery in the Bronx after finishing their shift and were shot by suspects. Dossi was hit in the stomach and arm while Pellarano was shot in the arm and a bullet grazed his chest. The suspects fired at other officers before stealing a Chevrolet Camaro and fleeing the scene. They then crashed the stolen car a few blocks away and fled on foot.
Both officers were taken to St. Barnabas Hospital and treated for their injuries. Fortunately, both are expected to make full recoveries, and a group of officials gathered at the hospital to show support and address the situation.
"Thank God these officers are doing well," Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference. "These officers did something that was extraordinarily brave. They did it as part of their commitment. These officers had just come off their shift and upon hearing this call went back out in search of these criminals. The work they do is so profoundly important in this instance where they went above and beyond the call to protect their fellow New Yorkers."
One possible suspect was apprehended at New York Presbyterian Hospital upon receiving treatment for a gunshot wound, The New York Post reported. However, another suspect is still at large and police are eager to bring him into custody. There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the other suspect.
Police have been on edge ever since officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were executed on Dec. 20. The officers were laid to rest separately, with Liu's funeral being held on Sunday. Hundreds of officers across the country attended the funerals in a show of support for their fallen brothers. The man who shot Ramos and Liu took his own life while being pursued by police.