HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) — Wilbert Mora, the 27-year-old police officer who was shot in the head Friday night, and survived the gunfire that killed a fellow officer, was rushed into surgery “to alleviate swelling in the brain,” two high-ranking law enforcement sources told PIX11 News on Saturday.
Both Mora and NYPD officer Jason Rivera were shot in the head, the sources said. Rivera, 22, died from his injuries.
The two young officers had been responding to a domestic incident involving a mother and son. Chief of Detectives James Essig announced Friday evening a Glock .45 was recovered near a back bedroom in the apartment where the shooting took place on West 135th Street in Harlem.
Rivera, a rookie officer and son of immigrants, was carried by fellow cops across the street to the emergency room of Harlem Hospital but was pronounced dead. Mora’s condition was grave, as well. Police described his condition on Saturday as still “critical.”
“He was rushed immediately up to the O/R,” a law enforcement official told PIX11 News about Mora. “It’s a significant injury. We hope he makes it through … It was a large-caliber bullet, a .45, which is a very significant, very powerful ammunition.”
Regarding the high-quantity magazine that was attached to the bottom of the Glock, the source noted, “It’s like a drum, a small drum. It can hold 40-50 bullets. It makes an ordinary handgun into a killing machine.”
Mora, who joined the NYPD in 2018, was with Rivera and another officer from the 32nd Precinct responding to a domestic incident at the home. A mother called 911 about her 47-year-old son, identified by police as Lashawn McNeil, an ex-convict with multiple arrests for narcotics and weapons possession. McNeil was on probation for a drug conviction in New York City.
When the police arrived at the apartment, they spoke to the mother and another son in the front room. Nothing was mentioned about McNeil being armed. That’s when Mora and Rivera approached the back bedroom.
Chief Essig said Friday night McNeil suddenly opened the door and ambushed them with rapid gunfire. The law enforcement official said the incident was a reminder that “Everything has the potential to turn deadly … quickly.”
On Saturday afternoon, PBA President Patrick Lynch released a statement from his police union, saying, in part, “In the coming days, New Yorkers will get to know these heroes. What they’ll find is they know them already. They are your sons. They are your husbands, fathers, and brothers. They are your neighbors. They walked these city streets beside you.”
On Friday night, Lynch had asked the public to come to Rivera’s funeral to show support for the men and women in NYPD Blue, who are trying to stem the gun violence in New York City. He repeated that call Saturday.
“We respectfully ask you, once again: please join us to mourn Police Officer Jason Rivera as if he was your own flesh and blood. And please pray hard for our injured brother, because he is your brother, too.”
