NYPD

Sept. 7 (UPI) — Police in New York City fatally shot a knife-wielding man who slashed an officer in the face after entering a police precinct early Sunday, authorities said.

The suspect, who was not identified, was shot multiple times by several officers in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn and pronounced dead at a local hospital, authorities said.

Chief of Patrol Phillip Rivera of the New York Police Department told reporters during a press conference that the suspect entered the front of the 73rd Precinct station house at about 5:24 a.m. EDT Sunday, but left shortly after attempting to enter a locked door without interacting with any police officers.

The suspect then went to the back of the building, which is restricted to NYPD personnel, and entered via an unlocked door, he said.

There, he was confronted by an officer who told the suspect that if he needed assistance, he needed to use the front door.

“Then he took out a large butcher knife and began attacking the officer,” Rivera said.

The officer sustained a slash wound to the face, Rivera said, adding that she was able to fight off her assailant, who then ran out of the precinct.

Rivera said an officer shot the suspect with a Taser, but to little effect, leading the police on a foot chase to Park Place and Saratoga Avenue, where he lunged at a pursuing officer with the 14-inch knife.

“Several officers discharged their firearms and the male was struck numerous times,” he said.

The police-involved shooting is under investigation.

The injured officer sustained superficial wounds to the face and was expected to be discharged from the hospital soon, he said.

“This incident certainly could have turned out very differently,” he said. “An individual walked into a known NYPD building with a large knife and attacked one of our officers. Every day our officers put on these uniforms they encounter dangerous situations out in the street, but it’s another kind of danger when someone comes directly into the precinct armed with a knife and attacks our officers.”

Mourners attend the funeral services for NYPD officer Didarul Islam at Parkchester Jame Masjid on July 31, in New York City, after Islam and three other people were shot and killed at the 345 Park Avenue office building in Midtown Manhattan. On Monday, the NYPD announced Islam’s wife had given birth to the couple’s third son. Photo by Derek French/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 18 (UPI) — The wife of slain NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who was among four people killed in a mass shooting last month, has given birth to the couple’s third son.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced baby Arham’s arrival Monday. Tisch said New York City Mayor Eric Adams joined Islam’s widow, Jamila Akhter, at Mount Sinai Hospital on Sunday night after she went into labor.

“Out of tragedy, a new life has entered this world,” Tisch said. “Arham joins his two big brothers, Ahyan and Azhaan.

“Together, they will carry forward their father’s legacy of service and courage — a legacy the NYPD will guard and uphold with the same devotion Didar gave to this city. Jamila, Ahyan, Azhaan, and now, Arham will forever be part of the NYPD family.”

NYPD officer Didarul Islam was killed July 28, while working security inside the New York City skyscraper, which houses the corporate offices of the National Football League and Blackstone. Islam was the first to be struck inside the lobby, where the suspect shot several other people before heading to the elevator. On the 33rd floor, the suspect shot another person and then himself.

Islam, 36, was a three-and-a-half-year veteran of the department and an immigrant from Bangladesh. During his funeral at a Bronx mosque three days later, New York’s police commissioner promoted Islam to detective, as thousands of officers and mourners lined the streets.

Since the deadly shooting, two online fundraisers on behalf of Islam’s family have raised nearly $500,000 to help care for Islam’s wife and three sons. A GoFundMe has raised nearly $80,000, while another fundraiser by several law enforcement and NYPD organizations has received more than $416,000.

“I know how special Arham’s birth is for this family that is still dealing with heartbreak after losing their hero,” Adams said in a post on X. “Rest in peace, Det. Islam. Your legacy lives on in your beautiful family.”

July 31 (UPI) — New York’s police commissioner promoted slain officer Didarul Islam to detective during his funeral at a Bronx mosque on Thursday morning.

Thousands of police officers, local officials and mourners lined the street outside the Parkchester Jame Masjid mosque in the Bronx to honor Islam.

“Look at all the NYPD officers here and outside this mosque and across this city who stand with you,” New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch told Islam’s family while speaking at the funeral.

“I am so heartbroken for you and your family,” Tisch said.

“As we scan the sea of blue, you will notice they look a whole lot like Didarul,” she continued.

“They wear his uniform, his shield [and] his collar brass,” Tisch said.

“They carry on his purpose and are sworn to finish the work he started,” she added, “and they will be there for you, always.”

Tisch then promoted Islam to detective-first grade, which is an NYPD tradition.

Islam, 36, was among four people who were killed by Las Vegas resident Shane Tamura during a mass shooting at an office building at 345 Park Ave. in New York City on Monday.

Tamura was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James were among elected officials who attended the funeral.

The funeral service started at 10 a.m. EDT, followed by prayer services at noon.

A “solid wall of blue” stood in a downpour as the hearse carrying Islam’s body from the mosque following the funeral service.

Islam’s body afterward was transferred to his family for a private burial service.

Islam had served on the NYPD for four years, was a father of two, and he and his wife were expecting the arrival of a third child.

Adams and Tisch visited the NYPD’s 47th Precinct station house on Wednesday to attend its morning roll call and talk with police officers.

Adams also visited with Islam’s family on Wednesday night.

July 20 (UPI) — A 21-year-old undocumented migrant with an extensive criminal history is in police custody following a robbery-turned-shooting of an off-duty Border Patrol agent in New York City, officials said Sunday.

Miguel Mora is in police custody at Lincoln Hospital, where he underwent surgery following the exchange of gunfire late Saturday with the unidentified Border Patrol agent in Riverside, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters during a Sunday afternoon press conference. The suspect sustained gunshot wounds to the groin and leg.

The press conference was held at Harlem Hospital, where the 42-year-old Border Patrol agent was recovering from his injuries. He was shot in the face and forearm, and is expected to survive.

The incident occurred at about 11:53 p.m. Saturday. Authorities said the border agent and a friend were sitting on rocks along the waterside, when two males riding a scooter neared.

The passenger got off and approached the officer, producing a firearm. Tisch told reporters that upon realizing he was being robbed, the Border Patrol agent drew his own service weapon.

“The perp fired first, and an exchange of gunfire followed,” she said, before the suspects fled the scene.

At 12:18 a.m. Sunday, Mora arrived at BronxCare Health System with wounds matching those sustained by the suspect seen in CCTV footage of the shooting, she said.

He was in police custody but had not been formally arrested at the time of the Sunday afternoon press conference.

Authorities are still looking for the alleged accomplice who is accused of driving the scooter.

Tisch said Mora illegally entered the United States via Arizona from Mexico in 2023.

She said he has two prior arrests for domestic violence in New York and an active warrant for failing to appear in court in one of those cases. He was also wanted in the state for robbery in December and felony assault with a stabbing in January, with both those alleged crimes occurrring in the Bronx.

Mora was also wanted in Massachusetts in connection to the February robbery of firearms from a pawn shop.

Authorities said the Border Patrol agent does not appear to have been targeted due to his profession.

The firearm used to shoot the Border Patrol agent has yet to be recovered, authorities said.

“In less than one year, he has inflicted violence in our city, and once he is charged for last night’s crimes, we will be able to add attempted murder to his rap sheet,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.

July 16 (UPI) — Former New York Police Department Commissioner Thomas Donlon calls the NYPD a “corrupt enterprise” that rewards some and punishes others in a federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday.

Donlon, 71, was named the NYPD’s interim commissioner in September 2024 after Edward Caban resigned due to a federal investigation.

He accuses New York City Mayor Adams and highly placed NYPD officials of running a criminal enterprise in the 251-page lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York, as reported by AMNY.

Donlon says Adams ignored his complaints about corrupt activities within the department and sided with Adams’ supporters within the NYPD, which made him the interim commissioner “in name only,” ABC News reported.

Adams’ inner circle of loyalists is who really has authority within the department, according to Donlon.

He exited the NYPD in November and accuses many highly placed department officials of running a scheme to promote politically connected officers who lack merit, obstructing internal oversight and manipulating misconduct investigations.

Donlon says former NYPD spokesman Tarik Sheppard used Donlon’s rubber signature stamp without permission to promote himself to a three-star department chief and threatened, the Daily News reported.

When Donlon confronted Sheppard, he said Sheppard threatened to kill him.

Donlon also accuses former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey of placing spies within Donlon’s office who blocked his attempts to launch probes into police misconduct.

He says Maddrey and Sheppard switched the names of officers whom Donlon chose for promotion and replaced them with their preferred officers without his knowledge and doctored the records to make it appear Donlon had okayed the promotions.

Donlon also accuses several of those named as defendants in his lawsuit of falsely arresting his wife, Deirdre O’Connor, and leaking her arrest to the press for driving with expired car insurance when she was rear-ended by another driver in December.

“This was not a mistake,” Donlon says in the lawsuit. “It was a deliberate abuse of power designed to punish and intimidate Donlon for exposing their misconduct.”

Donlon seeks compensation for emotional and punitive damages and an injunction to end the matter.

A New York City spokesperson called the lawsuit “baseless accusations” and an “attempt to seek compensation” after Donlon was “rightfully removed from the role of interim police commissioner,” AMNY reported.

Adams is seeking re-election as an independent candidate in the Nov. 4 mayoral election in New York City.

NEW YORK — New York City’s former interim police commissioner is suing Mayor Eric Adams and his top deputies, accusing them of operating the NYPD as a “criminal enterprise.”

In a federal racketeering lawsuit filed Wednesday, the ex-commissioner, Thomas Donlon, alleges Adams and his inner circle showered unqualified loyalists with promotions, buried allegations of misconduct and gratuitously punished whistleblowers.

It is the latest in a series of recent lawsuits by former NYPD leaders describing a department ruled by graft and cronyism, with swift repercussions for those who questioned the mayor’s allies.

In a statement, City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus called the allegations “baseless,” blasting Donlon as a “disgruntled former employee who — when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world — proved himself to be ineffective.”

Donlon, a longtime FBI official, was appointed last fall by Adams to stabilize a department shaken by federal investigations and high-profile resignations.

He stepped down less than a month into the job, after federal authorities searched his home for decades-old documents that he said were unrelated to his work at the department.

During his brief tenure, Donlon said he uncovered “systemic corruption and criminal conduct” enabled by Adams and carried out by his hand-picked confidants who operated outside the department’s standard chain of command.

Their alleged corruption triggered a “massive, unlawful transfer of public wealth,” the suit alleges, through unearned salary increases, overtime payments, pension enhancement and other benefits.

In one case, Donlon said he caught the department’s former top spokesperson, Tarik Sheppard, improperly using his rubber signature to give himself a raise and promotion. When Donlon confronted him, Sheppard allegedly threatened to kill him.

Later, when Donlon’s wife was involved in a minor car accident, Sheppard leaked personal family details to the press, according to the lawsuit.

Sheppard, who left the department in May, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The lawsuit also accuses police leaders of blocking internal investigations requested by Donlon and refusing to cooperate with federal authorities. And it outlines several instances in which officers with little experience — but close connections to Adams’ allies — received promotions, sometimes in exchange for favors.

The lawsuit names Adams and eight current and former high-ranking NYPD officials, including Chief of Department John Chell and Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry.

It calls for a federal takeover of the NYPD and unspecified damages for Donlon, whose professional reputation was “deliberately destroyed,” according to the suit.

Before joining the NYPD, Donlon spent decades working on terrorism cases for the FBI, including the investigation into the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. He also led New York state’s Office of Homeland Security before going into the private sector security industry.

He was replaced as commissioner by Jessica Tisch, who has pledged to restore trust within the department. But as Adams seeks reelection on a platform touting decreases in crime, he now faces renewed scrutiny over his management of the police force.

Last week, four other former high-ranking New York City police officials filed separate lawsuits against Adams and his top deputies, alleging a culture of rampant corruption and bribes that preceded Donlon’s appointment.

In response to that suit, a spokesperson for Adams said the administration “holds all city employees — including leadership at the NYPD — to the highest standards.”

Offenhartz writes for the Associated Press.