ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A Boston-area man was arrested and charged in the fatal shooting of a police officer in Rochester, New York, on Thursday, authorities said.
Rochester Police Chief David Smith announced the arrest of Kelvin Vickers, in connection with the shooting death of Officer Anthony Mazurkiewicz and the wounding of another officer and a 15-year-old girl, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
Vickers was arraigned Saturday morning in Rochester City Court, WHEC-TV reported. He pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder, assault and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
Mazurkiewicz, 54, a 29-year veteran of the force, was on patrol in a Rochester neighborhood when he was fatally shot at about 9:15 p.m. EDT on Thursday, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. His partner, Sino Seng, 37, was wounded in the attack.
Investigators said Mazurkiewicz and Seng were parked in an unmarked police surveillance vehicle as part of a murder investigation, WROC-TV reported. Other marked and unmarked police vehicles were also in the area, according to the television station.
At a Friday news conference, Capt. Frank Umbrino, head of the Rochester Police Department’s major crimes unit, said that 17 rounds were fired into the vehicle from behind. Mazurkiewicz was struck twice while in the driver’s seat, Umbrino said. Seng was struck once.
Police officer killed, another injured after shooting in upstate New York
Seng, who was struck in the lower body, exited the vehicle and fired at the shooter, who was not hit, according to The Associated Press. Seng was treated at a hospital and released. The girl, who was struck by a bullet that penetrated a wall, was recovering, authorities said.
Investigators found Vickers an hour later hiding in the crawl space of a vacant building nearby and took him into custody, the Democrat & Chronicle reported. Umbrino told reporters said that initial tests indicated that a 9 mm handgun found near Vickers was the weapon used to shoot the two officers.
Vickers has an “extensive criminal background,” Umbrino said. He declined to elaborate and did not say why Vickers was in Rochester, according to the AP.
The shootings occurred on the same day that Rochester Mayor Malik Evans declared a state of emergency in the city because of gun violence, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
“Tony Mazurkiewicz could have easily retired, but he chose to continue going on the streets because he didn’t want folks in our neighborhoods to be held hostage by the very cowards that are wreaking havoc in our community,” Evans said in a written statement Friday. “Not only am I sad for the Mazurkiewicz family — and we pray for the speedy recovery of Sino Seng — I am angry. And upset. Because all too often, we are seeing a blatant disregard for life,” he said.
The case will go to a grand jury, and Vickers is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, WHEC reported.
Vickers remains in the Monroe County Jail without bail, according to the television station.
