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Jan 8, 2007 7:32 pm US/Eastern
Police Searching For Cop Killer In Paterson, N.J.
by Christine Sloan
PATERSON, N.J. (CBS) ―
Inside the Paterson Police Department, purple bunting in memory of one of their own, Officer Tyron Franklin, who was shot and killed over the weekend by a gunman who still remains on the loose.
"All we're doing is crying, we don't understand how it was Ty...Ty was a good man. It's unreal," said Casandra Colon, Franklin's cousin-law.
The shooting happened at the Broadway Fried Chicken early Sunday morning. Police say the suspect shot Officer Franklin after trying to rob him. The 23-year-old officer was off-duty and didn't have his company-issued weapon.
"He was a good man, he talked to my husband everyday..ty was his rock when something happened he called ty," said Colon.
Investigators tell CBS 2 they've looked at surveillance video outside the take-out restaurant, but so far it's not helping in their investigation.
Officer Franklin has a 16-month-old child. He was a graduate of Westwood High School, where he was a wrestler and running back on the football.
A $16,000 reward is being offered for any information that will lead to officers arresting the suspect. The National Police Defense Foundation also tells CBS 2 that they'll be announcing an additional $10,000 reward.
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