NYC mayor calls on lawmakers to pass gun reform after two cops shot

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) called on lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to pass gun reform after the city announced that one officer had been fatally shot and another remained in critical condition during a shooting in Harlem on Friday evening.

“We don’t make guns here. How are we removing thousands of guns off the street, and they still find their way into New York City? In the hands of people who are killers, constantly carbon highways of death, destroying our communities,” Adams said on Friday night. “We need Washington to join us and act now to stop the flow of guns in New York City and cities like New York.”

The impassioned plea came after authorities said that one New York Police Department (NYPD) officer had been fatally shot while another remained “fighting for his life” following a shooting earlier that evening. 

The officer killed in the line of duty was identified as 22-year-old officer Jason Rivera. According to news reports, the officer in critical condition was identified as Wilbert Mora, 27.

Officials said that several police officers arrived at a Harlem apartment at 6:15 p.m. after receiving a 911 call regarding a family dispute. NYPD Chief of Detectives James W. Essig explained the officers were met by a woman and one of her sons when they arrived, and they were told that the other son was in a back bedroom.

As two of three officers made their way to the back of the home, both officers were struck by gunfire after the son, identified as Lashawn McNeil, opened the door and fired multiple shots, striking both officers, Essig explained. 

He said that as McNeil tried to leave the apartment, a third officer shot the man twice, hitting his right arm and head. Essig noted that McNeil was on probation after he was previously arrested for a felony conviction of narcotics in the city, adding that he had also been arrested four times outside of New York City.

“Our department is hurting. Our city is hurting. It is beyond comprehension. I am not sure what words, if any, will carry the weight of this moment, and what we are feeling,” New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.  “We have four times this month rushed to the scene of NYPD officers shot by violent criminals in possession of deadly, illegal guns. Four officers. Five officers shot, one fighting for his life in four incidents. And now tonight, one is dead.”

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) offered his condolences to the officers in a statement over Twitter on Friday evening.

“We are devastated at the tragic news that two NYPD officers have been shot while protecting the community, one who was killed and one who is seriously wounded. Our prayers are with them, their families, and all who loved them,” he said.