NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch was close with NYC mass shooting victim Wesley LePatner: ‘My beautiful friend'
The two were linked through the UJA-Federation of New York, where LePatner and the top cop's mom, Merryl Tisch, both served on the Jewish philanthropic group's board of directors.
Jessica Tisch acknowledged the heartbreaking connection at a Tuesday night vigil at Bryant Park for the four victims — LePatner, security guard Aland Etienne, Rudin Management associate Julia Hyman and NYPD cop Didarul Islam, a married father of two.
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4 Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, 43, knew NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch through the UJA Federation.
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Flanked by Mayor Eric Adams and other officials, Tisch cited a Jewish blessing urging loved ones to focus on the good that the victims brought to those around them.
'The people who knew them best are already carrying that blessing,' she said. 'That kind of love doesn't disappear. That kind of service doesn't end.
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'Aland, Julia, my beautiful friend Wesley, and Police Officer Didarul Islam, they were taken from our arms in violence,' she said. 'They now rest in God's arms in peace. May their memories be a blessing.'
In a statement Tuesday night, UJA paid homage to LePatner, a managing partner at Blackstone.
4 NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch revealed her connection to slay victim Wesley LePatner at a vigil Tuesday.
REUTERS
4 Merryl Tisch, the mother of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, served with slay victim Wesley LePatner at the UJA.
UJA Federation New York
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'Wesley was extraordinary in every way — personally, professionally, and philanthropically,' the statement said. 'An exceptional leader in the financial world, she brought thoughtfulness, vision, and compassion to everything she did.
'In 2023, we honored her with the Alan C. Greenberg Young Leadership Award at our Wall Street Dinner, recognizing her commitment to our community and her remarkable achievements, all the more notable as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field,' the group said.
LePatner also led a UJA mission to Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack.
4 Wesley LePatner, an exexcutive with Blackstone, was one of four people gunned down by Shane Tamura on Monday.
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Tamura, a deranged Las Vegas casino security guard with a grudge against the NFL over perceived CTE issues, stormed into the building around 6:30 p.m. and opened fire — first in the lobby and later on the 33rd floor, in Rudin's offices, before taking his own life with an AR-15-style assault rifle.
LePatner was among those gunned down in the lobby.
'She was a shining star,' her driver, Craig Inducci, told The Post Wednesday. 'I had never met a person like her. She was beautiful, she was brilliant, she was kind and generous. She was the total package.
'It's just terrible, terrible,' the 67-year-old Tampa native said. 'My God, she was a little thing too! Little, petite — but a dynamo.'
— Additional reporting by Mikella Schuttler
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