Florida police officer who once worked for NYPD is fatally shot
A Florida police officer and former member of the New York Police Department was shot and killed early Sunday morning while responding to a routine service call.
Tarpon Springs police Officer Charles Kondek was shot about 3 a.m. outside an apartment complex, said officials with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Kondek, 45, was taken to Florida Hospital North Pinellas, where he was pronounced dead.
“It’s just devastating. I never expected this would happen here in this city,” Tarpon Springs Mayor David O. Archie told reporters Sunday afternoon. “It’s so unfortunate.”
The shooter fled the scene, but the sheriff’s office has arrested a suspect, identified as 23-year-old Marco Antonio Parilla Jr. Court records show Parilla has a lengthy criminal history, consisting mostly of charges stemming from the distribution of narcotics.
He will face a charge of first-degree murder, the sheriff’s office said.
As Parilla was led into the county jail about 30 miles north of Tampa, he was captured on video telling reporters, “That was not my intention.”
Kondek was a 17-year veteran of the Tarpon Springs Police Department. Before his time in Florida, he served for five years as an NYPD officer.
Sunday’s shooting came a day after two NYPD officers were gunned down while inside a parked squad car in Brooklyn.
Follow @kurtisalee and email kurtis.lee@latimes.com
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