New Orleans police officer Marcus McNeil was fatally shot by the gunman Friday morning

A New Orleans officer was shot and killed after a gunman fired on a group of police.
The city’s Mayor Mitch Landrieu confirmed the death on Twitter early Friday morning, saying that the unidentified officer was killed overnight.
New Orleans Police Department identified the officer killed in an early morning shooting as 29-year-old Marcus McNeil, a three-year veteran of the force.
The shooter was identified as Darren Bridges, 30, a convicted felon who was out on parole after being sentenced to six and a half years in prison in 2012 for attempted possession of a firearm by a felon.
Bridges had previous battery and marijuana convictions, all in New Orleans.
The shooting happened a little after midnight near Tara Lane and Lake Forest Boulevard in New Orleans East.
“This hurts,” Superintendent Michael Harrison later said outside of University Medical Center, where McNeil died. “I can’t begin to tell you how much this hurts.”
“These are the worst kind of days for the city,” he told reporters during a press conference. “We want to keep the family in our thoughts and prayers. There were a lot of officers who knew this officer very well. The entire department is in trauma.”

A group of four officers was on routine patrol just after midnight when they “saw something that aroused their suspicion” and exited their car to investigate.
The gunman opened fire, striking one officer multiple times, The Times-Picayune reported.
“One possibly two officers returned fire,” New Orleans Police Department.
Harrison said that one or two of the officers returned fire, striking the suspect several times. The gunman fled into a nearby apartment. Several officers surrounded the apartment.
“and our officer collapsed right there on the scene,” Harrison told reporters.
Officers rendered aid to the wounded officer and alerted EMS, who rushed McNeil to UMC where he later died from his gunshot wounds.
The alleged gunman hid in the apartment building until he peacefully surrendered himself to a SWAT team, WWL reported.
Harrison said there was only one suspect and that it was unclear whether he had a prior record.
Bridges who is under arrest, was taken to University Hospital, where he is still being treated.
“Just routine patrol. He was doing his job, doing exactly what the citizens expect him to do,” Harrison said.
Officers are still investigating the motive behind the early morning shooting. No one else was injured.
“This hurts,” Harrison added, “I can’t begin to tell you how much this hurts.”