Two New York City police officers responding to a robbery in the Bronx were shot by two suspects on Monday night, according to law enforcement officials.

New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said, the plainclothes officers were responding to a grocery store robbery and have just identified themselves to one of the suspects when the other came rushing out of a Chinese restaurant and started shooting.

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One of the officers was shot in the arm while a bullet hit the back part of the other officer's bulletproof vest. Bratton said the officers may have injured one of the suspects in the return fire.

The incident happened near East 184th Street and Tiebout Avenue in the Fordham section of the neighborhood, earlier news reports said. The wounded officers were believed to be out of danger at the St. Barnabas Hospital where they were visited by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

"This is another indicator of the dangers our officers face in the line of duty...Thank God, these officers will recover," De Blasio said.

The shooting occurred hours after a news conference on Monday where De Blasio and Bratton announced a decline in the city's crime rate last year.

Police said the two officers were not "targeted," differentiating the incident from the murder last month of officers Wenjin Liu and Rafael Ramos who were ambushed and killed while inside their parked marked vehicle in Brooklyn. The gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later shot himself on a subway platform.

The shooting of Liu and Ramos has created friction between the mayor and his officers, who have turned their backs on De Blasio during the two necrological services for the slain victims.

The police officers union believes the mayor is partly responsible for creating an anti-police sentiment by allowing protests on the city streets after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in the hands of police officers.

TagsNew York City, police, Mayor Bill de Blasio, commissioner william bratton