Wilbert Mora, a New York City police officer who was seriously injured last week in a Harlem shooting, succumbed to injuries at a Manhattan hospital on Tuesday. His partner, Jason Rivera, was also killed in the shooting.
Cops responded to the suspect, Lashawn McNeil’s mother’s Harlem apartment on Friday night after the woman called to complain that he had threatened to hurt her during an argument. When the officers arrived at the scene, the suspect shot Rivera and Mora before a third cop shot him. The gunman succumbed to injuries at a hospital on Monday morning.
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While Rivera, a 22-year-old newlywed, died at the hospital the same day, Mora remained in extremely critical condition since the shooting. On Sunday, he was moved from Harlem Hospital to NYU Langone Medical Center, where he died.
“It’s with great sadness I announce the passing of Police Officer Wilbert Mora. Wilbert is 3 times a hero. For choosing a life of service. For sacrificing his life to protect others. For giving life even in death through organ donation. Our heads are bowed & our hearts are heavy,” Keechant Sewell, Police Commissioner of the City of New York, tweeted on Tuesday.
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In a message to officers announcing Mora’s death, Sewell said, “The grief in this Department is incalculable. We will stand, salute and shed tears, yet manage to smile as we remember him during the extremely difficult days ahead.”
Mora and Rivera “were dedicated, courageous and compassionate officers, loved by many. The pain their families feel is immeasurable. We pray for them; we will be strong for them,” Sewell said in the message.
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Mora and Rivera were the first NYPD officers killed in the line of duty by a gunman since 2017, when Miosotis Familia, 48, was ambushed as she wrote in a notebook in a mobile command post in the Bronx. Two officers killed in 2019 died by friendly fire.
Mora entered the police academy in October 2018 and was assigned to the Harlem precinct where the shooting happened since November 2019. He made 33 arrests, police records show.
Mora’s funeral arrangements have not been announced.
With inputs from the Associated Press