Off-duty police officer killed in robbery after placing order at restaurant in Paterson, N.J.

PATERSON, N.J. (AP) _ An off-duty city police officer was killed early Sunday when a man tried to rob him at a restaurant, police said. <br/><br/>Tyron Franklin, 23, a rookie patrolman with the department

Sunday, January 7th 2007, 2:19 pm

By: News On 6

PATERSON, N.J. (AP) _ An off-duty city police officer was killed early Sunday when a man tried to rob him at a restaurant, police said.

Tyron Franklin, 23, a rookie patrolman with the department since April, was shot several times with a handgun, said police Lt. Anthony Traina. It was his day off and he was dressed in civilian clothes.

Another man also was shot but was hospitalized in stable condition with non life-threatening wounds, officials said.

Police said they are searching for at least one person involved in the shooting.

It appeared that Franklin had taken money out of his pocket to pay for food at the Broadway Fried Chicken restaurant when a man tried to rob him, and the two men struggled before Franklin was shot, Traina said. He declined to elaborate.

Paterson Mayor Jose Torres said a $11,000 reward was established for information on the shooter.

Franklin had a 16-month-old son.

``He was a fine young man,'' said City Councilman Anthony Davis, who knew Franklin through his father, a retired fire captain. ``His dad wanted him to become a fireman, but he wanted to become a police officer.''