Long Island police officer shot in Home Depot parking lot and suspect dead

An early morning shooting in a Long Island, New York, Home Depot parking lot ended with an officer shot and a suspect dead.

The incident started around 5:30 a.m. Friday when Nassau County officers followed an Isuzu SUV, being driven by a 40-something year old man, into the parking lot of a shopping plaza in East Meadow.

Reports say as the officers approached the suspect, the suspect reached for the officer’s gun and the weapon went off hitting the officer in the left leg.

The suspect then fled the scene and the officer’s partner followed him and shot him twice in the chest outside the do-it-yourself store.

The man, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The wounded officer was taken to Nassau University Medical Center where he was treated for the non-life threatening injury.

Authorities have not said why the officers followed the suspect into the parking lot.