2 Suspects Seized in N.Y. Slaying of Rookie Officer Guarding Drug Witness

Two suspects were arrested Friday for gunning down a rookie officer assigned to guard a witness in a drug case--a killing that sparked a public outcry and prompted Mayor Edward I. Koch to call President Reagan a “wimp” in the war on drugs.

Authorities said the slaying of Officer Edward Byrne, 22, was ordered by a Queens borough drug kingpin as a clear message letting the witness know that he, too, was at risk.

Todd Scott, 19, and Scott Cobb, 24, were charged with the killing a week ago Friday in which Byrne was shot three times in the head as he sat alone in his patrol car outside the witness’s home in a drug-plagued neighborhood.

Both were arrested for first-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Scott also was charged with resisting arrest, Police Lt. Joseph Peters said.

However, Peters cautioned that both were awaiting arraignment and that the charges could be changed when the two are brought before a judge to be charged formally in court.