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Thousands pay respects to NYPD officer killed in mass shooting in Manhattan

Thousands pay respects to NYPD officer killed in mass shooting in Manhattan

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. A flatbed truck carried a digital billboard showing photos of him and a commemorative message from his union.
Mr Islam (36) was working a department-approved private security detail, in uniform, when he was fatally shot on 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 taking his own life.
'This officer saved lives. He was out front. Others may be alive today because he was the barrier,' governor Kathy Hochul told family, friends and other dignitaries at the Parkchester Jame Masjid mosque.
An immigrant from Bangladesh, Mr Islam was building a career in the police force. He served as a school safety agent before becoming a patrol officer less than four years ago.
'He could have gone into any other occupation he wanted, but he wanted to put on that uniform, and he wanted to protect fellow New Yorkers. And he wanted to let us know that he believed in what this city and what this country stood for,' mayor Eric Adams told the gathering.
'That's the greatest symbol of what we know we are as a country.'
Mr 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.
He was buried yesterday at a cemetery in Totowa, New Jersey.
Another victim, Julia Hyman, was buried following a service on Wednesday at a Manhattan synagogue.
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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.
Mr Adams, a retired police captain, said the bloodshed 'cut me to my core.'
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