Officers Prayed For Fatally Wounded Jersey City Cop Before Death

As Ramon Torres lay dying, police officers lined up and prayed and cried outside the hospital. Torres was mortally wounded, but his brothers and sisters from Jersey City and elsewhere never gave up on him.

'Today, our hearts are heavy once again," the North Bergen Police Department wrote on its Facebook page after learning of his death.

"It’s with heavy hearts that we send our condolences to the Jersey City Police Department. May Officer Ramon Torres rest in peace and never be forgotten."

Services were held Saturday for Torres, 32, who died about an hour after he was located in his first-floor residence at 340 Woodlawn Avenue in Jersey City Sunday night. He was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound in his chest, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.

Police officers gathered outside the hospital's emergency entrance to await word of his fate, and they also prayed, according to The Jersey Journal.

Many could be seen crying and pacing up and down the driveway, and one was rushed into the building by a group of officers, according to the report.

Torres had been on the force for one year and worked the West District on the midnight tour, according to Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione.

Torres graduated from the academy last March. He was also a coach with the Christian Boxing Academy in Jersey City.

Torres was a lifelong Jersey City resident, a 2003 graduate of Hudson Catholic High School where he played football and was awarded the most improved player award after receiving much encouragement from his mentor, the late Jersey City Police Lt. Bob Dalton, according to his McLaughlin Funeral Home obituary.

Torres followed in his stepfather’s footsteps and joined the Jersey City Police Department. The stepfather and his stepson saw a need in the community for a safe and healthy place for Jersey City youth and, in 2014, they started the Christian Boxing Academy, an outreach program for at risk children in Jersey City, according to his obituary.

"Ramon was devoted to his family, he loved to cook and had an amazing sense of humor and wit. He will be dearly missed by his family and friends," according to his obituary.

The incident happened around 7:50 p.m. on Sunday, when the Jersey City Police Department received a report of a police officer shot at the Woodlawn Avenue residence. Upon arrival, police found Torres in a lifeless condition, according to the HCPO.

First responders administered aid to Torres until EMS personnel transported him to the Jersey City Medical Center. Torres was pronounced dead at JCMC shortly after 9 p.m., according to the HCPO.

The cause of death is pending the findings of the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.

Torres is survived by his wife, Chenel Christina Torres; his children, Penelope Rae Torres and Dominic Ramon Torres; parents, Cristino and Carmen Felix; and various others.

Visitation was held Friday and relatives and friends were asked to assemble on Saturday at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church at 10:30 a.m. for services. Interment was to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Christian Boxing Academy, PO Box 7032, Jersey City, NJ 07307 or online at www.cbainvictory.com.

The Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor is actively investigating the circumstances surrounding the death. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip on the Hudson County Prosecutor’s official website.

All information will be kept confidential.

Photo courtesy of the McLaughlin Funeral Home