The “hero” New York Police Department officer killed by a lone gunman in the lobby of a Midtown Manhattan office tower was a married father of two whose wife is reportedly pregnant with their third child.
Didarul Islam, 36, died making “the ultimate sacrifice” after gunman Shane Tamura stormed into 345 Park Avenue shortly before 6:30 p.m. Monday with an M4 rifle, police said.
“He was saving lives. He was protecting New Yorkers,” Mayor Eric Adams said in tribute to Islam, speaking from the Manhattan hospital where the officer was pronounced dead late Monday.
“He embodies what this city is all about. He’s a true blue New Yorker, not only in a uniform he wore,” Adams added.
Islam’s wife is eight months pregnant, sources told the New York Post, and the couple has two young boys.
President Donald Trump paid tribute to Islam in a post on Truth Social. “I have been briefed on the tragic shooting that took place in Manhattan, a place that I know and love. I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence,” the president wrote.
“My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
The brave officer, an immigrant from Bangladesh, was a NYPD veteran of nearly four years. He was off-duty Monday, working for Rudin Management in security and was in uniform, sources told the outlet.
NYPD officers lined the street and saluted the fallen officer as the ambulance transferred him to the hospital.
Islam was the first to die in the mass shooting from the hail of bullets that the suspect “sprayed” across the lobby, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference.
“He was doing the job that we asked him to do,” an emotional Tisch said. “He put himself in harm’s way, he made the ultimate sacrifice — shot in cold blood, wearing a uniform that stood for the promise that he made to the city, he died as he lived: a hero.”
Islam lived with his family in the Bronx neighborhood of Parkchester, where devastated loved ones gathered early Tuesday to mourn him.
Friends told the New York Times that Islam was a pillar of the neighborhood, acting as a mentor to young Bangladeshi men in the community. “He wanted to support his family and be in a better position, and he fell in love with law enforcement while working security,” said 31-year-old Marjanul Karim.
Karim said that Islam wanted to “leave behind a legacy for his family, something they could be proud of.”
Flags across the city’s five boroughs will be lowered to half-staff as a mark of respect, Adams said Tuesday morning.
The city is reeling from Monday’s mass shooting at the offices that are home to high-powered companies, including the NFL, investment giant Blackstone and financial firm KPMG.
Four people, including Islam, are dead after Tamura of Las Vegas opened fire in the lobby, before taking the elevator to the 33rd floor, where he took his own life.
Blackstone employee Wesley LePatner was also killed in the bloodbath, the company confirmed in a statement.
“Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed,” the company said. “She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond. She embodied the best of Blackstone.”
LePatner joined Blackstone in 2014 after spending over a decade at Goldman Sachs, according to her profile on the company’s website.
The NFL said one of its employees was critically injured.
Adams said that the suspect intended to target the NFL offices but went to the wrong floor.
