NEW YORK — A New York City police officer who was among the four people shot and killed by a gunman during a rampage at a Manhattan office tower will be laid to rest Thursday.
Officer Didarul Islam, 36, was fatally shot Monday in a midtown building housing the National Football League’s headquarters. A security guard, real estate firm employee and investment firm executive were also killed.
The gunman also shot and wounded a fifth victim, an NFL employee, before killing himself.
Islam’s funeral will take place at Parkchester Jame Masjid Funeral Home in the Bronx. There will be separate viewings for men, women and close friends and family, followed by a prayer service. He will then be buried at a cemetery in Totowa, New Jersey.
Islam was the gunman’s first victim when he strode into the lobby of the Park Avenue office tower with an AR-15-style rifle at around 6:30 p.m. and immediately opened fire. Islam had been working a department-approved private security detail in uniform at the time.
An immigrant from Bangladesh, Islam had worked his way up the nation’s largest police force, serving as a school safety agent before becoming a patrol officer less than four years ago.
He was assigned to a precinct in the Bronx, the city borough where he lived with his wife and two young sons. The couple is also expecting the birth of their third child soon.
“He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. “He died as he lived. A hero.”
Another victim, Julia Hyman, was buried following an emotional service Wednesday at a Manhattan synagogue. The 27-year-old Cornell University graduate had worked for Rudin Management, which owns the building.
Funeral arrangements for the two other victims, security guard Aland Etienne and investment firm executive Wesley LePatner, have not been made public.
Police have identified the gunman as Shane Tamura, a 27-year old former high school football player, who authorities say drove from his home in Las Vegas to Manhattan because he believed he had a brain disease linked to contact sports and accused the NFL of hiding the dangers of playing football.
Police have said the casino worker had a history of mental illness, but they haven’t elaborated other than to say they found psychiatric medication prescribed to him at his residence in Las Vegas.
