NEW YORK - Three people were in custody after two New York City policemen were shot and wounded in the Bronx.

The plainclothes officers were responding to a report of robbery at a small market on Monday night, when they were shot.

A 30-year-old officer was shot in his left arm and lower back and a 38-year-old was hit in his left arm and chest. Both are listed in stable condition.

CCTV footage showed one of the suspects firing his weapons and sprinting out of the Bronx's Tremont neighbourhood, Sky News reported.

Authorities arrested three suspects, including the suspect seen on the surveillance video. No charges have been filed.

The shooting occurred two weeks after two NYPD officers were gunned down while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn by a man who vowed online to kill "pigs".

The gunman, who committed suicide, suggested in online posts that the killings were in retaliation for the deaths of Michael Brown Jr in Ferguson, Missouri, and of Mr Eric Garner in New York.

In the case of the Bronx cops, authorities said the two did not appear to be targeted.