NEW YORK – New York City police officers attended a wake Tuesday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral to honor one of the two officers killed in an ambush at a Harlem apartment.
Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, was taken off life support a week ago, four days after he and Officer Jason Rivera, 22, were shot while responding to a domestic disturbance call.
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Rivera died the night of the Jan. 21 shooting.
A wake for Mora was held at the cathedral Tuesday afternoon and evening. His funeral will be held there Wednesday.
The young officers were shot when they were called to a Harlem apartment by a woman who said she needed help with her 47-year-old son. Authorities said Lashawn J. McNeil threw open a door in the apartment and shot the officers in a hallway. A third officer shot McNeil as he tried to flee. He died a few days later.
Rivera died the night of the shooting. His funeral was Friday at St. Patrick’s.
Mora was in critical condition for days but after it was clear he wouldn't survive, he was kept on life support so his organs could be donated in accordance with his and his family's wishes.
He joined the police academy in 2018 and since November 2019 had been assigned to the Harlem precinct where the shooting happened. Police records show he made 33 arrests in his short time on the force.
The officer was remembered by a colleague as being approachable, humble, happy and eager to help despite the impression made by his imposing football player's frame.
Mora and Rivera were just the latest NYPD officers killed in the line of duty in recent years. One officer died in 2021 after being struck by a suspected drunk driver. Two officers died from friendly fire in 2019. A gunman ambushed and killed an officer in 2017 as she sat in a mobile command post in the Bronx.
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Associated Press photographer John Minchillo contributed to this report.
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This story has been corrected to remove an erroneous statement that Mora and River were the first NYPD officers killed in the line of duty since 2017.