One New York police officer is dead and another is in critical condition after a suspect in a domestic disturbance opened fire inside a Harlem apartment, authorities said on Friday.They are the fourth and fifth New York Police Department officers to be shot in the city this month, according to officials. Police identified the slain officer as Jason Rivera.
“We mourn the loss of a hero officer, a son, husband, and friend. Only 22 years old, Police Officer Jason Rivera was murdered in the line of duty,” the NYPD said in a tweet.
The wounded officer was identified by police as 27-year-old Wilbert Mora. Police said he underwent surgery.
NYPD Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, was in critical condition after he was shot in a Harlem apartment. The incident unfolded as officers were responding to a domestic call at 6:15 p.m. in Harlem, officials said.
A woman called 911 and reported she was having a dispute with one of her sons inside her apartment, said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig.
Shortly after, three NYPD officers arrived at the apartment and met the mother and another son. They both directed two of the officers to a room in the back of the apartment, where her other son (the suspect) was waiting, Essig said.
“The door swings open and numerous shots are fired, striking both officers; one fatally and one is here at Harlem Hospital in critical condition,” Essig said.
The third officer shot the suspect, identified as Lashawn McNeil, in the arm and head when he tried to escape, police said.
McNeil, 47, was in critical condition at the hospital, officials said. Earlier, a law enforcement source told CNN that a civilian believed to be involved in the incident had died, but that was not the case.
Last year saw the highest number of law enforcement officers who were intentionally killed in the line of duty since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
There were 73 officers who died in felonious killings in the line of duty in 2021, according to preliminary year-end data provided to CNN by the FBI. It was the highest total recorded by the agency since 1995, excluding the 9/11 attacks.
The FBI reported that 55 officers were killed by gunfire in 2021 through the end of November, up from 39 in the same time frame in both 2020 and 2019, according to the preliminary data.
