
New York officer killed in Manhattan skyscraper shooting was Bangladeshi immigrant whose wife was pregnant, World News
A gunman opened fire on Monday inside a midtown office tower, killing four people, including Officer Didarul Islam, 36, before fatally shooting himself, officials said.
"We lost four souls to another senseless act of gun violence, including a member of the New York City Police Department, Officer Islam," New York Mayor Eric Adams told reporters in a press conference late on Monday.
Adams said the officer was a three and a half year veteran of the police department.
"He was saving lives, he was protecting New Yorkers," Adams said. "He loved this city, and everyone we spoke with stated he was a person of faith and a person that believed in God."
Adams said he met the officer's family on Monday night.
"I told them that he was a hero, and we admire him for putting his life on the line," the mayor added.
Islam was married, had two young sons, and his wife is pregnant with a third child, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in the press conference.
"He put himself in harm's way. He made the ultimate sacrifice — shot in cold blood," she said.
Islam was working on a paid security detail in the building when the shooting occurred, the commissioner added.
Such details allow "companies to hire officers in uniform to provide extra uniform security," she said.
Excluding Islam, 42 federal, state, county, municipal, military, and US territories officers have died in the line of duty in the first half of 2025, according to preliminary data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
[[nid:720721]]
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
Armed groups attack security force personnel in Syria's Sweida, killing one, state TV reports
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria's internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday. The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month. Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze. The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources. A U.S.-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks. The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region. REUTERS

Straits Times
12 hours ago
- Straits Times
A funeral shines a light on the Bangladeshis thriving in the NYPD
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The killing of Mr Islam has ripped through the New York Police Department with ferocity. NEW YORK - Inside a three-story Bronx mosque, dozens of New York City Police Department officers sat cross-legged on the floor. They were silent during a somber occasion: the funeral of one of their colleagues who had been killed in uniform just days before. The slain officer, Mr Didarul Islam, was shot on the night of July 28 after a gunman entered a Park Avenue office building in Manhattan and sprayed bullets across the lobby and then a floor upstairs, killing four people. The killing of Mr Islam, who was awarded a posthumous promotion, has ripped through the Police Department with ferocity. But the death had a particular resonance for the department's fast-growing community of Bangladeshi American officers. Mr Islam immigrated from Bangladesh about 16 years ago. In the past decade, the number of Bangladeshi Americans who have flocked to the Police Department's ranks has exploded, marking the latest chapter in the long story of immigrant groups that have found a home – and a foothold in America – in the nation's largest police department. 'Being police officers, it's a way to help the New Yorkers, to help the community,' Sergeant Ershadur Siddique, president of the Bangladeshi American Police Association, said in an interview. 'It's to show that we are part of America, we are part of New York City, and being a police officer in New York City – it's known in the world that we're the best in the world – so it brings pride,' he said. The association, one of many fraternal organisations within the department, now includes nearly 1,000 of the roughly 34,000 uniformed members of the force. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore LTA, Singapore bus operators reviewing Malaysia's request to start services from JB at 4am Singapore Despite bag checks and warnings, young partygoers continue to vape in clubs in Singapore Singapore Ong Beng Seng to plead guilty on Aug 4, more than 2 years after trip to Qatar with Iswaran Singapore NDP 2025: Veteran Red Lion says each leap 'feels like 5km run' Business Decoupling to save on tax? You may lose right to property if ties go awry Singapore Lessons learnt from Singapore's love-hate relationship with e-scooters Opinion At UN's Wipo, Singaporean Daren Tang strives to create an equal music for haves and have-nots Asia Mass grave with over 100 skeletons in Sri Lanka brings up old wounds Among them are an inspector and four captains, as well as 1,500 civilians who work for the department, making it the second-fastest-growing fraternal organisation, according to a spokesperson for the organisation. Many Bangladeshi Americans have also found work as traffic enforcement agents, a job that Mr Islam often encouraged residents in his Bronx neighbourhood to consider, according to a neighbour. The Police Department has long served as a harbour for immigrants in New York who are seeking good pay, security and benefits. Irish Americans for years made up such a large portion of the department's total personnel, including numerous police commissioners, that they came to stand for the face of the force. But the department, once known for being overwhelmingly white, has steadily diversified over the decades. Nearly 12 per cent of its uniformed officers are Asian, a figure closely mirroring the percentage of the city's total population, according to the US census and Police Department data. About 33 per cent of uniformed officers are Hispanic, and 17 per cent are Black. Among civilian Police Department employees, 17 per cent are Asian and 45 per cent are Black. The force's immigrant and minority fraternal groups have also grown in number. Today they include the New York Dominican Officers Organisation, the fastest-growing group, and the Pakistani American Law Enforcement Society, among numerous others. The Bangladeshi American Police Association was founded in 2015 with a mission of fostering upward mobility within the department, recruiting new officers and building connections with New York City's Bangladeshi American community, which has nearly tripled to more than 100,000 New Yorkers in the past decade. Those who are employed by the Police Department founded their fraternal association in part to combat Islamophobia that ran rampant in the United States in the wake of 9/11, according to one of its founders, Mr Shamsul Haque. It was started to 'dispel the misconception that you are Muslim and there is somehow a connection to terrorism,' Mr Haque said on July 30 during a news conference with Mr Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor. That mission remained especially resonant on July 28. In the hours after the shooting, there was a torrent of misinformation online declaring the massacre an act of Islamic terrorism and blaming Mr Mamdani, who is Muslim, as was the slain officer. For many of the association's members, the officer's killing has been felt deeply and doubly – the loss of a fellow service member joined with the loss of a compatriot. 'I speak as someone who feels like a family member grieving,' Mr Haque said on July 30 during the news conference. 'More than a fellow officer, he was one of us, and losing him feels like losing a brother.' For many in the Bangladeshi American community, Mr Islam's death has also elicited warring emotions, with officers and civilians saying they feel suspended between pride for his heroism and overwhelming pain at his loss. 'He died in the line of defense. That's a very honorable death,' said Mr Hossain Mohd, an engineer who is Bangladeshi and came to watch the transfer of Islam's body from the medical examiner's office to the Parkchester Jame Masjid on July 29. 'He did something for the country. That's something to be proud of.' Officer Mohammad Salam, who grew up with the detective in the same neighborhood in Bangladesh and worked with him years later at the 47th Precinct, was also at the mosque. After the transfer of Mr Islam's body, he stood outside its doors in a sea of loved ones and fellow officers and recalled his fallen friend with emotion. 'I'm really proud of him. He was a great kid,' Mr Salam said. Mr Islam, he said, had embodied the best of the Bangladeshi community in the force. 'They try to help the community; they try to improve their lifestyle,' he said, adding: 'They also make their family proud.' NYTIMES

Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Gaza war protesters arrested at offices of US Senators Schumer and Gillibrand
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox More than 100 protesters, who were organised by anti-war group Jewish Voice for Peace, chanted and banged pots and pans in the lobby of the Third Avenue building where the two senators have office space. – Dozens of demonstrators protesting against Israel's war in the Gaza Strip were arrested on Aug 1 at the midtown Manhattan offices of New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, days after they broke with many of their fellow Democrats by voting against a resolution to halt US arms sales to Israel. Pressure has mounted on Democratic lawmakers to press Israel to end its military activity in Gaza, where famine and starvation have spread in recent weeks, and allow in a flood of aid. On Aug 1, more than 100 protesters, who were organised by anti-war group Jewish Voice for Peace, chanted and banged pots and pans in the lobby of the Third Avenue building where Mr Schumer, the Senate minority leader, and Ms Gillibrand have office space. 'New Yorkers are heartbroken, America is heartbroken,' said City Council member Alexa Aviles, who protested on Aug 1. 'We want an end to the war, we want peace.' The traditional bipartisan consensus in support of Israel among US lawmakers has collapsed over the course of Israel's nearly two-year war in Gaza, which has killed more than 60,000 people, according to Gaza officials. Support for the war has plunged into the single digits among Democratic voters, and on July 30, 27 Democratic senators voted to halt US weapons transfers to Israel in protest against the war and the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On Aug 1, two elected Democrats, City Council member Tiffany Caban and Assembly member Claire Valdez, were arrested outside Mr Schumer and Ms Gillibrand's offices. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Opening of Woodlands Health has eased load on KTPH, sets standard for future hospitals: Ong Ye Kung Singapore New vehicular bridge connecting Punggol Central and Seletar Link to open on Aug 3 Singapore New S'pore jobs portal launched for North West District residents looking for work near home Singapore HSA investigating teen allegedly vaping on MRT train Asia KTM plans new passenger rail service in Johor Bahru to manage higher footfall expected from RTS Singapore Tengah facility with over 40 animal shelters, businesses hit by ticks Business Property 'decoupling' illegal if done solely to avoid taxes: High Court Singapore 60 years of building Singapore Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine since the early months of the war, which began after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,000 people on Oct 7, 2023, but the crisis has exploded since March, when Israel blocked the entry of humanitarian goods into the enclave in a bid to squeeze concessions from Hamas. Israel later established a new aid distribution system. But the Gaza Ministry of Health reported more than 40 hunger-related deaths in July, including 16 children, and at least 111 since the beginning of the war, 81 of them children. The data could not be independently verified. NYTIMES