Police Killed In 2016: Boston Officers In Critical Condition After Shooting, Suspect Dead

After responding to a domestic incident on Wednesday night, two Boston police officers are fighting for their lives. The two officers are said to be in “extremely critical” condition and the suspect has been killed, NBC News reported Thursday.

Although the names of the officers have not been released, they have been described as a 12-year veteran and a 28-year veteran of the police department. The suspect has been identified as 33-year-old Kirk Figueroa of East Boston, the Boston Globe reported.

The officers responded to a domestic disturbance between two male roommates just before 11 p.m. Figueroa was described as armed and opened fire on the officers upon arrival. Police were still attempting to determine what led the man to wear a bullet proof vest and fire a handgun and rifle at police.

“He opened fire on the officers and the officers returned fire,” Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans said. “I appreciate the courage and bravery of those officers who exchanged gunfire with this suspect,” he added.

Officers shot and killed Figueroa and then proceeded to help their injured colleagues, Fox News reported. A fellow policeman applied pressure to the wound until medical assistance arrived. During the incident, the neighborhood was sent into a lockdown, with residents told to stay in their homes because police were unsure if there was a second shooter. The order was later lifted.

The two wounded officers underwent surgery at a local hospital while nine others were treated for minor injuries, stress and trauma. Outside of the hospital, Evans told the media that officers are “not proud when we have to use deadly force but obviously we had two officers gravely injured there and we had no choice. ... Let’s just hope they pull through.”

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley announced that there would be an investigation of the shooting due to the use of deadly force.

As of July, the number of police officers shot and killed had seen a 44 percent spike this year compared with the same period in 2015, according to data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.