A plainclothes New York City (NYC) police officer was killed in a gunfight while chasing a suspect in East Harlem on Tuesday.

USA Today reports that 33-year-old Randolph Holder was responding to reports of gunfire at a housing project. He and his partner pursued an armed suspect near a pedestrian underpass. There was an exchange of gunfire, and Holder was struck in the head.

Holder was sent to the Harlem Hospital Center in critical condition. He died later that night.

"He ran toward danger," New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton said in a statement. "It was the last time he will respond to that call."

The suspect, 30-year-old Tyrone Howard, was also injured in the exchange. Holder's partner, unidentified, fired at Howard, striking the suspect in the leg. He was apprehended four blocks away, where he was taken to a hospital for medical attention before being turned over to authorities.

The New York Times revealed that the suspect had been on the run for several weeks. He was accused of avoiding a mandatory drug treatment program issued by the court. Howard was arrested with 18 other members of a drug gang that operated in the housing projects near the East River. Howard was assigned to participate in a drug diversion program, which aimed to avoid sending drug offenders to overly crowded prisons.

Howard dropped out the program in May, setting authorities after him.

"He clearly knew that they were on his trail. They've made numerous attempts to grab him," said Stephen P. Davis, the department's deputy commissioner for public information. "He's considered a very major drug dealer in the East River Houses."

Howard was reportedly involved in the shooting that alerted cops to 105th Street and First Avenue on Tuesday morning. One man claimed the suspect stole his bicycle by gunpoint, and attempted to make a break for it before he encountered Holder and his partner.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke during a press conference, saying Holder was "an immigrant who wanted to give back to his city and his country, who had an exemplary record as a police officer."

Holder is the fourth New York officer killed since December 2014.