Alleged Gunman Who Killed Two NYPD Officers in Harlem Ambush Was out on Probation

The suspect who ambushed and killed two NYPD police officers on Friday evening is a convicted felon who was out on probation at the time of the murders.

According to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig at a press conference, a third police officer present at the ambush shot Lashawn McNeil, 47, in the head and arm, neutralizing the threat as he tried to flee. He was hospitalized in critical condition on Friday night.

The suspect was on probation for a 2003 felony narcotics conviction in New York City, the police chief said, adding that he had several arrests outside of New York City including in South Carolina, where he was arrested for unlawful possession of a weapon in 1998.

McNeil was later arrested for assaulting a police officer in 2002, Essig told the press. He was arrested twice in 2003 in Pennsylvania, once for a felony drug charge and also for a misdemeanor narcotics charge.

The alleged shooter’s last known address was Allentown, Pennsylvania, some 90 miles west of New York City, where the shooting occurred.