Jersey City Officer Is Fatally Shot While Responding to Robbery

A Jersey City police officer was killed on Sunday morning after he responded to a report of an armed robbery at a Walgreens store, the authorities said.

The officer, Melvin Santiago, 23, was shot in the head when a suspect fired at a marked police car in which the officer was sitting, the city's mayor, Steven M. Fulop, said in a statement. Officer Santiago was pronounced dead a short time later at Jersey City Medical Center.

Officer Santiago and a colleague were the first to respond to a report of an armed robbery at the store about 4 a.m., the mayor's statement said. After the suspect fired at the police car, other responding officers returned fire and shot the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene, the police said. No other information about the suspect was immediately released.

An armed security guard at the Walgreens store, located at Communipaw Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard, said the suspect had struck him and had taken his weapon, which was believed to have been used in the shooting of the officer, the statement said.

'It is a tragic situation when any officer is killed in the line of duty,' the mayor said. 'Melvin was an officer who represented everything one would want to see in a police officer. I know the entire city's thoughts and prayers are with the Santiago family during this difficult time, and we mourn together.'

The shootings are under investigation, the mayor's office said. A news conference was scheduled for later on Sunday morning at City Hall.

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