Crime & Safety
Suffolk PD Commissioner Asks Public To Remember Fallen NYPD Cops
"I know the difficulties that come with being a police officer up there." - Rodney Harrison, former NYPD chief of department.
YAPHANK, NY — Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison called on the public to remember in their thoughts and prayers the two fallen New York Police Department officers who were shot while responding to a domestic dispute in Harlem on Friday.
Jason Rivera succumbed to his wounds on Friday, and Wilbert Mora, on Tuesday.
Harrison, who retired as the NYPD's chief of department, the highest-ranking uniformed member of the force, before taking up his job with Suffolk in December, formerly commanded the 32nd Precinct where the two officers were assigned.
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At a news conference on Wednesday, he asked the public "to continue" sending their thoughts and prayers to the officer's families.
"I am a former commander of their command. I know the difficulties that come with being a police officer up there," he added. "This is a difficult profession."
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Rivera and other officers arrived Friday evening at an apartment on West 135th Street near Lenox Avenue, while they were responding to a fight between a mother and her son, who was identified as 47-year-old Lashawn McNeil, authorities said.
A bedroom door swung open and McNeil opened fire, hitting Rivera and Mora as they were walking down a narrow hallway inside the apartment, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig.
In a tweet on Wednesday afternoon, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Rivera and Mora’s deaths “leave us with broken hearts, flags at half-staff, and black bands on our shields.”
“They were great officers doing an important job — work their fellow finest continue in their honor. Pray for them. Support them. And #NeverForget,” her post concluded.
McNeil, who was shot by a third officer inside the apartment, died on Monday.
The officers will be buried following mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, with Rivera's funeral scheduled for Friday, and Mora's next Wednesday, The New York Post reported.
Nick Garber contributed additional reporting to this story.
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