Hundreds gather to mourn Didarul Islam, NYPD officer killed in mass shooting

USA Today

5 days ago

The New York City police officer who was killed in a shooting at a Manhattan skyscraper on Monday, July 28, was honored in a Bronx funeral service on Thursday, July 31.
Officer Didarul Islam was working a paid security detail at 345 Park Ave when 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Nevada opened fire in the building's lobby with an AR-style rifle. Tamura killed three others, including Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, Rudin Management associate Julia Hyman and security officer Aland Etienne, before turning the gun on himself.
Islam, who worked for the department for shy of four years, was honored with a funeral and procession attended by hundreds.
Officer Didarul Islam was a 'husband, father, and dedicated public servant'
Didarul Islam, 36, was an immigrant from Bangladesh who had been with the department for 3-1/2 years, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. He was a member of the 47th Precinct, which serves the northern Bronx.
A statement on the precinct's social media pages said Islam was "a husband, father, and dedicated public servant." New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a social media statement that Islam is survived by two young sons and his wife, who is expecting the couple's third child.
"Everyone we spoke with stated he was a person of faith and a person who believed in God and believed in living out a life of a Godly person," Adams said.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a press conference that Islam died "doing the job we asked him to do."
"He put himself in harm's way," Tisch said. "He made the ultimate sacrifice, shot in cold blood, wearing a uniform that stood for the promise that he made to this city. He died as he lived, a hero."
Gov. Kathy Hochul honored slain officer, NYPD
An honor guard wheeled a gurney carrying Islam's body, wrapped in an NYPD flag, to the mosque he attended as part of a dignified transfer, in preparation for the service.
Parkchester Jame Masjid mosque, one of the largest mosques in the Bronx that serves a predominantly Bengali community, hosted services on July 31. Pictures of Islam, a truck with a mobile billboard reading "in loving memory of our brother," and a white NYPD hearse were positioned in the streets outside the building as officers and members of the public milled about.
Female mourners began entering the mosque around 10 a.m. ET to view and pay respects to Islam. In keeping with Muslim tradition, men were allowed to enter separately at 11 a.m.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaking to a room packed to the brim with mourners and uniformed officers, invited the Bangladeshi community to lean on their fellow New Yorkers to get through.
"There is another family which is one that is often taken for granted by too many outside these rooms. That is the NYPD," Hochul said. "We should not just think of them in times where they lose a brother or sister, they should be in our hearts and minds with a sense of gratitude for individuals like Officer Islam who came to this country to give his family a better life."
"On behalf of 20 million New Yorkers, I want to bring the condolences of your entire family, your extended family, who are there for you," she concluded.
Islam promoted to detective first grade posthumously
"I'm not here as the mayor, I'm here as a parent, as a father," said Adams. "Sons aren't supposed to bury their dads, mothers are supposed to be buried by their daughters and their children, there is nothing more tragic than having a parent bury their child."
Adams thanked officers who responded to the building when the shooting was still active and carried Islam out in hopes of getting him medical care.
"We must live in the spirit of Officer Islam and what he stood for and what he will always stand for and what he fought for," he said.
Tisch, in a wavering voice, spoke about Islam's young sons and unborn child.
"A killer on a self-fettered, senseless crusade of violence took the lives of four innocent New Yorkers, he tore a father from his children, a husband from his wife, a son from his family and in that moment, he ripped the world away from everyone who knew and loved NYPD officer," she said.
Islam was born in Sylhet, Bangladesh and moved to New York at the age of 20 "for a better life," said Tisch, where he started as a school safety agent in 2019 before moving to the Bronx's 47th Precinct two years later.
Islam was in the building that day on an extra shift he had picked up to make some extra money, said Tisch, who noted that he often worked 12-hour shifts in the department and beyond.
"His watch may be over, but his impact will never be," she said, before tearfully promoting Islam to first grade detective, posthumously.
'He was our world,' said Islam's family
NYPD officer Kamrul Hasan, Islam's brother-in-law and "best friend," spoke on behalf of Islam's family with a short but poignant message.
"He was a proud father, he was an uncle, he was a brother and he was a dependable person," Hasan said. "He was a good leader. Anything anybody needed, anything, he came, he was helping everybody."
A loved one also read a statement from Islam's wife.
"I stand before you today with a heart full of sorrow, grieving the loss of my beloved husband," the statement said. "He was a devoted son, beloved brother and most loving father. To our family, he was our world."
"Though my heart is broken, I find comfort knowing that his sacrifice may have saved others in that lobby, people who were able to go home to their families that day. May Allah grant you the highest place in paradise."
"To our elected officials, we thank you for your presence. Now, we ask for your courage. Do not just stand for Officer Islam in his death, stand with his people in life. Protect the vulnerable, denounce hate, work for peace," said mosque Imam Dr. Zakir Ahmed
"Let his memory push us all to be better in service and in justice and in how we treat the communities we are sworn to protect," he continued. "As we pray for the deceased, we also mourn for the other three victims whose lives were also taken from us."
Rain fell during officer's final farewell
Wrapped in the NYPD flag, Islam's casket was then carried from the prayer hall, followed by a procession of his family, hands clasped. His young sons clung to family members as a silent crowd watched the dignified transfer, officers standing at attention lining the pathway with hands raised in a salute.
Taps played as rain began to fall and the processional paused in front of the digital billboard on the side of a truck parked on the street, flashing images of Officer Islam, both in uniform and at home, smiling with his children in tow.
The coffin was finally loaded into the white hearse, which would bring Islam to his final resting place.