NYPD Officer Killed By Friendly Fire In Bronx

The NYPD officer who died Sunday in the Bronx was killed by friendly fire. Police officials said Officer Brian Mulkeen and suspect Antonio Lavance Williams were engaged in a violent struggle and were wrestling on the ground when responding officers fired in their direction.

NYPD weapons fire the two bullets that killed Mulkeen.

"This is a tragic case of friendly fire," NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill told reporters. He said, though, that a courageous public servant's life was lost due to a violent criminal.

Mulkeen and another officer shot and killed Williams, and then responding officers shot Mulkeen in the head and torso.

Mulkeen fired his weapon five times. His partners fired 10 more rounds, two of which went into the six-year NYPD veteran.

The officer's body was transported to Orange County Monday where he grew up. He lived in Yorktown Heights with his girlfriend, who is also an officer with the New York Police Department.

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A wake for Mulkeen will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday in Monroe at Smith, Seaman & Quackenbush Funeral Home. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m Friday at Church of the Sacred Heart, according to the Journal News.

With reporting by Noah Manskar, Patch Staff.