NYPD Cop Dies in 'Friendly Fire'

MYFOXNY.COM - Police say a New York City police officer who had just gotten off work was shot and killed by a fellow officer while chasing a suspect who had broken into his car.

The victim, Officer Omar Edwards, was not wearing a bulletproof vest when he was shot, according to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. The medical examiner's officer confirmed to Fox 5 that Edwards was shot three times with the fatal bullet striking him in the back.

The shooting happened around 10:30 Thursday night within blocks of a Harlem police station.

Watch the report from Fox 5's Linda Schmidt (video, left).

Kelly said the 25-year-old Edwards, died about an hour later at Harlem Hospital. A makeshift memorial was started outside of the officer's home.

Kelly said investigators "working to get a fuller picture of what transpired," but the chain of events began when Edwards noticed a man rummaging through his car and starting chasing him with his gun drawn.

Plainclothes officers spotted the chase and intervened. Kelly says one of those officers got out of his vehicle and fired six times, hitting Edwards in the arm and chest. Kelly said Edwards did not fire his weapon.

Edwards is black and the officer who shot him is white.

The Rev. Al Sharpton issued a statement saying he is "concerned of a growing pattern of Black officers being killed with the assumption that they are the criminals."

A vigil for Officer Edwards is scheduled for Saturday morning at Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters in Harlem.

Edwards joined the department in July 2007.  He was married with two children.

The man who he had originally started chasing has been arrested.  He was initially identified as Miguel Santiago.