On Monday, July 28, horrifyingly, a gunman opened fire on a Manhattan skyscraper, killing four people, including a New York police officer. The mayor and police commissioner of New York City described the slain officer as a heroic Bangladeshi immigrant who saved lives while “putting his life on the line.” Reuters reported.
Gunman Shane Tamura opened fire inside a midtown office tower on Monday, killing four people, including a police officer, before turning the gun on himself, officials said.
“We lost four souls to another senseless act of gun violence, including a member of the New York City Police Department, Officer Islam,” New York Mayor Eric Adams told reporters in a press conference late on Monday.
Who was the slain New York police officer?
Bangladeshi immigrant Didarul Islam, 36, had three and a half years of experience in the police department. He was married and had two young sons, and his wife is currently pregnant with a third child, according to statements from the mayor and police commissioner.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference that Islam was working as a paid security guard at the building at the time of the shooting.
“He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice – shot in cold blood,” she said.
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“He was saving lives, he was protecting New Yorkers,” Mayor Adams said. “He loved this city, and everyone we spoke with stated he was a person of faith and a person that believed in God.”
Who was the gunman involved in the incident?
Shane Tamura, 27, from Las Vegas, who appears to have driven across the country to New York for three days and who has a history of mental illness, was the one who used an M4 rifle during the shooting, according to a statement from Police Commissioner Tisch at a press conference.
Tamura eventually shot himself in the chest, Tisch said.
So far, four people have been killed in the mass shooting, one seriously injured but currently in stable condition in the hospital, and four others were lightly injured, which happened while fleeing the scene.
Reuters’s reporting contributed to this article.