A 14-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of a cop during an alleged shooting spree that sent officers fleeing for their lives.
The “hero” officer, detective Joseph Azcona, 26, died in hospital from gun shot wounds, and another cop who was shot is recovering from injuries.
Azcona was part of an illegal firearms sting in Newark, New Jersey, and was blasted before he even left his car.
Emanuel Miranda, Newark’s director of public safety, said Azcona was a “true hero”.
The deadly shots were delivered at around 6:30pm near a White castle and a McDonald’s on Carteret Street and Broadway.
According to Theodore Stephens, the Essex County Prosecutor, Joseph Azcona, a police officer with five years of experience, was shot while still inside his patrol car.
Witnesses described chaotic scenes, with cops fleeing for their lives down busy the busy streets before gunfire rang out.
More than a dozen shots were heard in the volley that injured a second officer.
Azcona’s colleague was rushed to hospital but is expected to survive, the authorities said.
Witness Randy Mejia told WCBS-TV: “It sounded like a car accident, and it went ‘boom, boom, boom.'”
Newark mayor Ras Baraka said the shooter showed “heinous, callous disregard for humanity”.
He added that the brave officers had gone entered the situation knowing that “grave danger was possible”.
Five people from the scene were arrested – with the charged 14-year-old among them.
The youth has been charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of illegal weapons, Miranda said.
The teen was also shot at the scene and treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Stevens did not identify the suspect or any of the others arrested.
At the scene, investigators found one gun, which is currently under examination along with the officers’ firearms to identify the weapons used and the number of shots fired.
Azcona was promoted two years ago to the position of deputy.
Miranda said he had been assigned to an intelligence unit that was the “best of the best”.
Azcona and the other wounded officer were rushed to University Hospital in Newark, where the cop was pronounced dead at 2:30am.
The hero was surrounded by his mother, father and brother in those hours, Miranda said.
The identity of the surviving wounded officer was not revealed.
The city’s mayor vented his frustration that a teen could acquire a gun – and fatally shoot a police officer.
He said: “We just have to do a better job. I have to do a better job. Our families have to do a better job.
“The community has to do a better job at making sure that our children are not handling guns in the street, shooting at police officers.
“This is not a police problem. This is our problem. This is our collective problem.”
