NYC prepares to honor fallen officer

NEW YORK — A city reeling from a recent spate of violence prepared to lay to rest a rookie police officer being hailed as an inspiration to his immigrant community, as investigators sought to make sense of a domestic dispute that left another officer “fighting for his life.”

Funeral services for New York City Police Officer Jason Rivera were being finalized, as his comrades in blue mourned the loss of the 22-year-old who joined the force to make a difference in what he had described as a “chaotic city.”

A solemn scene unfolded Sunday with a column of uniformed police officers, as well as a line of firefighters, flanking the streets as a hearse carrying the fallen officer left the medical examiner’s office.

Burial rites were scheduled for Friday, city officials said, while services were to be held Thursday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Rivera and Officer Wilbert Mora were shot Friday night while answering a call about an argument between a woman and her adult son. Mora, 27, suffered a serious head wound, police said.

During a Sunday morning appearance on CNN, Mayor Eric Adams stressed the urgency “to deal with the underlying issues that are impacting crime in our city and has become a stain on the inner cities across our country.”

He said his police force would revamp a plainclothes anti-crime unit aimed at getting guns off the streets. The unit had been disbanded in 2020 over concerns it accounted for a disproportionate number of shootings and complaints.

“The symbol of that soiled coat with red blood is really what we’re talking about here in not only New York City, but across America,” Adams said.

The medical examiner ruled Rivera’s death a homicide after an autopsy found he died from gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

Mora, who has been with the NYPD for four years, remained in life-threatening condition, Adams said Sunday. Police said he was to be transferred from Harlem Hospital to NYU Langone Medical Center.