OLEAN — Local law enforcement officers are mourning two of their brethren killed in the Syracuse area earlier this week, even if they are unable to attend funerals over the next few days.
Two law enforcement officers — Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Michael Hoosock and Syracuse police officer Michael Jensen — were killed in a shootout Sunday evening in Liverpool by a man who fled a traffic stop in nearby Syracuse. The shooter, using an illegal assault weapon and magazine, was killed by police.
Due to previous obligations, no Olean city police are expected to attend services, Chief Ron Richardson told the Times Herald. Wellsville village police also reported that no officers are planning to attend the funerals.
“It’s fortunately very rare,” Richardson said, but he worries because “it’s never knowing when you’re going to get a call like that — it could happen here.”
Richardson said he has personally attended funerals for those who died in the line of duty, whether through accident or homicide, and he described the experience as “very eye-opening.”
He said he recognized how much it means to families when thousands of law enforcement personnel gather in a community to show support for a fallen officer, and he was saddened not just by the deaths themselves, but also by the young ages of the officers who were killed.
Mayor Bill Aiello, a retired city police captain, also offered his condolences.
“For both (Richardson and I), it’s never knowing when you’re going to get a call like that,” the mayor said.
Aiello and Richardson both noted the young age of Jensen, who had been on the Syracuse police force for three years before he was killed.
The mayor noted that the city has not had a police officer killed by a suspect since Capt. Timothy Hassett was shot while attempting to arrest a burglar on Feb. 21, 1909. A monument on the side of the Masonic Temple on Times Square stands in memory of Hassett.
The greater Olean area has unfortunately hosted several large funerals for law enforcement, Aiello added, such as the funeral for Trooper Ross Riley who died in a training exercise at Letchworth State Park in 2013. Riley was a 17-year veteran of the state police and lived in Allegany.
Govt. Kathy Hochul on Friday directed flags to half-staff for the officers.
“Our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and it is a tragedy when they are taken from us too soon while in the line of duty,” Governor Hochul said. “Lt. Hoosock and Officer Jensen were two of our best and my thoughts are with their loved ones as we grieve with them.”
The funeral for Jensen is set for Saturday, while the funeral for Hoosick is set for Monday.
Organizers are planning for as many as 15,000 people to attend the two separate funeral services, syracuse.com reported. Uniformed officers from as far away as Quebec are expected to wait, officials said.
According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 24,067 officers have died in the line of duty, including 113 killed in 2023 — the lowest number recorded since 1959. The highest total recorded was in 2021, when 623 deaths were reported, including 405 due to COVID-19. In 2022, the most-recent year with breakdowns available, 101 officers died of COVID-19 or other job-related illnesses, 63 officers were shot, and 57 were killed in vehicle-related incidents.
Cattaraugus County Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb and Allegany County Sheriff Scott Cicerello could not be reached for comment by press time.
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