MANHATTAN — The man who fatally shot an NYPD officer who chased him after a gang shootout in East Harlem was convicted Monday of first-degree murder, authorities said.
Tyrone Howard, 32, faces up to life in prison for murdering Officer Randolph Holder, 33, during a chase on a pedestrian overpass along the FDR Drive in October 2015.
Holder, who moved from Guyana to the United States to fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer, was shot in the head while responding to a report of gunshots being traded between gangs in a park at East 102nd Street and the FDR Drive.
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The jury deliberated for four days, according to The New York Daily News.
"The NYPD is pleased to learn that justice has been served by today's verdict of guilty against Tyrone Howard in the murder of Detective Randolph Holder," read a statement from Police Commissioner James O'Neill. "I commend the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for their diligent and dedicated work in securing this conviction. I thank the members of the jury for their conscientious deliberations in returning this proper and just verdict"
Howard had also been arrested in a major 2014 drug bust at the East River Houses.
Before Holder's murder, a Manhattan judge ordered Howard into a rehab program for the 2014 drug conviction. He was later bailed out and ordered to start a drug program in September 2015. He shot and killed Randolph on Oct. 20, 2015.
Last year, he was also implicated in a gang bust, in which the Manhattan District Attorney's officer indicted 37 gang members who officials said were responsible for a "slew of bloodshed" in a violent rivalry that stretched over two years.
Howard had also been arrested and charged in a 2009 shooting in the East River Houses that struck an 11- and 77-year-old, but charges against him were dismissed after police couldn't find any eyewitnesses.