Throngs of police pay tribute to officer killed in New York office shooting
NEW YORK — Police lined up four rows deep in front of a mosque on Thursday to pay respects to a fellow officer who was among the victims of a gunman's rampage at a New York City office tower.
With officers stationed for security on rooftops around the Bronx mosque, fire trucks used their ladders to hold a huge American flag over a nearby street ahead of services for Officer Didarul Islam, 36. A flatbed truck carried a digital billboard with photos of him and a commemorative message from his union.
Officers filed in for a viewing, to be followed by family, friends and dignitaries.
Islam was working a department-approved private security detail, in uniform, when he was fatally shot Monday in a midtown Manhattan building that houses the National Football League's headquarters. A security guard, real estate company employee and investment firm executive were also killed. The gunman also wounded a fifth victim, an NFL employee, before killing himself.
An immigrant from Bangladesh, Islam was building a career in the nation's largest police force. He served as a school safety agent before becoming a patrol officer less than four years ago.
'He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm's way. He made the ultimate sacrifice,' Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in the immediate aftermath of the attack. 'He died as he lived. A hero.'
Islam was assigned to a precinct in the Bronx, the borough where he lived with his wife and two young sons. His wife is expecting the birth of their third child soon.
After Thursday's viewings and a prayer service at the Parkchester Jame Masjid, Islam will be buried at a cemetery in Totowa, New Jersey.
Another victim, Julia Hyman, was buried following an emotional service Wednesday at a Manhattan synagogue. The 27-year-old Cornell University graduate had worked for Rudin Management, which owns the building.
Funeral arrangements for the two others killed, security guard Aland Etienne and investment firm executive Wesley LePatner, have not been made public.
Police identified the gunman as Shane Tamura, a 27-year old former high school football player who most recently worked in a Las Vegas casino's surveillance department. Authorities say he drove to Manhattan because he believed he had a brain disease linked to contact sports and accused the NFL of hiding the dangers of playing football.
Officials said he was heading for the NFL's office but took the wrong elevator and went by mistake to another floor that housed Rudin Management's offices. The wounded NFL employee happened to be in the lobby when Tamura was firing there.
Police said Tamura had a history of mental illness, but they haven't elaborated other than to say they found psychiatric medication prescribed to him at his residence in Las Vegas.
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Associated Press reporter Jennifer Peltz contributed.
Deepti Hajela, The Associated Press
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