UPDATED 9:29am: Officials in the US state of Florida have named a police officer who has been shot and killed near Tampa Bay.

They say 45-year-old Charles Kondek was a 17-year veteran of the force.

A suspect has been taken into custody over the shooting, which comes just a day after two other officers were murdered in New York City.

It comes hours after a gunman shot and killed two police officers in Brooklyn before taking his own life.

Investigators in New York believe the attacker boasted on social media about a plan to target police, possibly out of revenge for the deaths of two unarmed black men who died in confrontations with police.

New York shooting highlights tension

The assassination of two police officers in New York is being linked to unrest over the deaths of unarmed black men.

The police were shot in their patrol car by a man who then turned his gun on himself.

The Guardian's Nicky Woolf says the gunman shot and wounded his girlfriend before travelling to New York, posting on Instagram that he intended to kill at least two police officers.

The chilling posts used the hashtag, 'They take one of ours, we'll take two of theirs'.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says the shooting was a particularly despicable act.

"When a police officer is murdered it tears at the foundation of our society."

But New York police say there's blood on his hands, after he supported recent protests over the death of unarmed black men at the hands of officers.

The president of the police union, Patrick Lynch, says they tried to warn.

The New York Time's Marc Santora says the man had posted on Instagram beforehand, where he explained his plan, but didn't say when or where.

"By the time the information was relayed up here, it was already too late.

"He'd always opened fire at point blank range at the two officers in Brooklyn."