David Hofer, 'Brooklyn Boy' and Former NYPD Cop, Killed on Duty in Texas

Photos via David Hofer/Facebook

EULESS, TX — A young, Brooklyn-born police officer who reportedly moved to Texas two years ago because he thought it would be "safer" than New York was killed Tuesday by a gunman in a public park, according to local police.

David Hofer, 29, had responded to reports of suspicious persons and possible gunfire at J.A. Carr Park in Euless, Texas, around 2:45 p.m., the Euless Police Department said in a news release.

"On approach he encountered gunfire," the release said. "Officer Hofer was struck and other responding Euless officers returned fire, striking the suspect."

Both Hofer and the man who allegedly shot him were rushed to the hospital and declared dead soon after, according to police.

Hofer grew up in Brooklyn, police said, and attended St. Anne's School in Brooklyn Heights. He graduated from NYU in 2008 and spent five years as an NYPD officer in Manhattan before following some cop buddies to Texas, according to the New York Daily News.

"He was wonderful child, a wonderful police officer," his mom, Sofija Hofer, told the press. "He was working this very difficult precinct, so he had a lot of traumatic experiences. ... He decided to go to a safer place."

The fallen officer's Facebook page shows he got engaged to his fiance, Marta Danylyk, a little over a year ago.

Hofer is also survived by his parents, a sister and a brother, police said.

"This agency and community will not forget the kind heart and dry wit of Officer David S. Hofer," Euless Police Chief Mike Brown reportedly said Tuesday.

Video of the shooting, captured by a witness and uploaded by the Dallas Morning News, shows officers exchanging gunfire with a man in J.A. Carr Park. (See below.)

The shooter, killed in the exchange, has since been identified as 22-year-old Jorge Brian Gonzalez. Local newspapers reported that Gonzales had been released from jail just hours before the shootout, and may have been high on meth at the time.