One New York police officer is dead and another is in critical condition after a suspect in a domestic disturbance opened fire Friday evening inside a Harlem apartment, authorities said.
Police identified the slain officer as Jason Rivera, and the New York Police Department (NYPD) said on Twitter it was mourning “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.
The wounded officer was identified by police as 27-year-old Wilbert Mora, and police said he had undergone surgery. Asked for an update in a news conference Saturday, Mayor Eric Adams said Mora was “still fighting for his life.”
“At this moment it’s about prayers. We need New Yorkers to pray for the well-being of this officer that we should all be proud of,” Adams said.
Rivera and Mora are the fourth and fifth New York Police Department officers to be shot in the city this month, according to officials. Friday night’s incident was the first in which an officer was killed.
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, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said in a news conference late Friday at Harlem Hospital.
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.
Previously, a law enforcement source told CNN a civilian believed to be involved in the incident had died, but that was not the case.
The three officers who responded Friday night were wearing body cameras, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Saturday. The NYPD has collected the videos and is analyzing footage from each officer’s body camera, the source said.
Investigators are also sifting through the suspect’s social media accounts as part of the investigation, the source said.
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.
Shooting is an attack on the city, mayor says
Adams, who ordered flags on city buildings be flown at half staff, characterized the shooting Friday night as an attack not just against officers, but the entire city, its children and families.
He echoed those comments Saturday, telling reporters, “This is a battle between the killers and New Yorkers, and we are not going to lose that battle.”
When Adams, a former police captain, was inaugurated January 1, he emphasized he would not let New York become “a city of disorder.” But his tenure has been marked by a series of high-visibility incidents that have spotlighted the complex challenge of crime in the city.
Though not near the rate of the early 1990s, it has been on the rise in recent months. In November – the most recent month for which the city has released data – the crime rate increased by 21.3% from the same period last year, according to the NYPD.
During the Democratic primary campaign, public sa