An ex-convict suspected of gunning down a Nassau County police officer and then fatally shooting a carjacking victim is charged with first-degree murder.
Police officers packed the courtroom for Darrell Fuller's appearance Thursday before Judge Christopher Quinn in Hempstead, Long Island.
Fuller was represented by the Legal Aid Society. His attorney declined to comment, reported the Associated Press.
Fuller was also charged with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon.
Authorities say the Queens man had been hospitalized until Wednesday for self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Fuller is accused of killing a policeman who suspected he had been involved in a hit-and-run car accident on Tuesday.
Authorities allege Fuller then fled that shooting and killed the second victim, Raymond Facey of Queens, while stealing his vehicle.
Fuller served four years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder in 2005.
A second man was arrested Thursday in connection with the shootings. Gerard Williams, 27, of Jamaica, Queens faces weapons possession charges.
Williams allegedly lent Fuller a silver 2000 Nissan Altima on Tuesday, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, and that two firearms were found inside: a TEC-9 semiautomatic firearm and Ruger 9mm semiautomatic pistol.
Brown said ballistics tests were being done on the Ruger to see if that was the gun used to kill Officer Lopez and Facey.
Williams was scheduled to be arraigned later Thursday in Queens Criminal Court.
Because the series of events happened in neighborhoods along the Queens-Nassau border, the NYPD, the NCPD, the Queens D.A.'s office, and the Nassau D.A.'s office are all involved in the case.
A funeral for Nassau County Officer Arthur Lopez is planned for Saturday.
Darrell Fuller, 33, is charged with first-degree murder.
