New York City Police Officer Shot In Head Dies

A New York City police officer has died from injuries he suffered after being shot in the head.

Officer Brian Moore, 25, was shot inside his unmarked police vehicle on Saturday night while attempting to stop a man suspected of carrying a gun.

He was rushed to hospital where he underwent emergency brain surgery.

A senior aide to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who spoke to AP news agency on condition of anonymity, said Officer Moore was pronounced dead on Monday.

The officer and his partner, Erik Jansen, were in plain clothes and operating an unmarked police vehicle when the shooting occurred.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said Officer Moore had pulled up alongside a man on foot who they noticed adjusting his waistband suspiciously.

He said the officers exchanged words with the suspect before he turned suddenly and fired at least twice, striking Officer Moore in the head.

"Both officers were still seated in the vehicle and did not have an opportunity to get out or return fire," Commissioner Bratton said.

Officer Jansen was not injured.

The alleged shooter, 35-year-old Demetrius Blackwell, faces two counts of attempted murder of a police officer.

He was apprehended about 90 minutes after the shooting, following a house-to-house search of the neighbourhood in Queens.

Blackwell denies the charges.

Officer Moore, who came from a family of police officers, joined the NYPD in July 2010.

His death comes nearly five months after two NYPD officers were shot dead in Brooklyn while sitting in their marked patrol car.

The shootings have occurred amid heightened tensions across the country over allegations of police brutality.

The recent death of a black man who was severely injured while in police custody in Baltimore has sparked protests in several major US cities in recent weeks, including New York.

Similar incidents in Ferguson, Missouri, New York, Cleveland and South Carolina have fuelled calls for changes to police tactics.