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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday presented scholarships to the three young children of Det. Didarul Islam, the hero NYPD cop who was shot and killed by a deranged gunman inside a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper.
“Detective Islam was a hero to us,” Goodell said during a ceremony at the 47th Precinct, where Islam was assigned before he was gunned down while working security at 345 Park Ave. — a skyscraper that houses NFL headquarters.
“He was somebody that we all knew as a friend, as a neighbor. And it’s an honor to be here with his family that I know meant so much to him,” the NFL commissioner said.
“And also to understand the impact that he had on so many. And this is what true first responders and true heroes do. They run to the fire, they run to the emergency. They run to help. With no questions asked.”
The scholarships — funded by Folds of Honor, a nonprofit that helps families of fallen officers — will cover educational costs for the slain 36-year-old cop’s children Azhaan, 5, and Ahyan, 7, along with newborn son, Arham.
Islam’s brother-in-law, Police Officer Kamrul Husan, was in attendance Tuesday and recalled the pain his family has experienced since gunman Shane Tamura stormed into the Park Avenue office building on July 28, killing Islam and three others.
“I’d like to say thank you, thank you, [to] every single of you standing here, stood next to Islam’s family, that means a lot to us. Islam’s family is going through a lot,” Husan said.
Husan said Islam had valued education and that the scholarships will go a long way for their family.
“[It was] on Islam’s mind all the time, how’s he going to cover his [sons] education, he was thinking about good education systems.
“Now the NFL stood up for the kids, that means a lot to the family. Now the family doesn’t have to worry about that, his kids education. This is great, this is really appreciated.”
After the ceremony, little Azhaan told reporters he hopes to join the force when he grows up.
“I want to be a police officer. And when I grow up and I’m a police officer, I can’t wait to be a detective,” the youngster said.
How the shooting unfolded
- Reports of the shooting at 345 Park Ave. start coming in around 6:28 p.m.
- Shane Tamura, 27, is seen getting out of a black BMW between 51st and 52nd streets with an M4 rifle.
- He enters the lobby and turns right, where he shoots police officer Didarul Islam, 36, dead.
- Tamura guns down a woman cowering behind a pillar in the lobby, sprays more bullets and walks toward the elevator bank — where he shoots dead a security guard crouching at his desk.
- One more man reports being shot and injured in the lobby. He was in critical but stable condition.
- The gunman allows a woman to walk out of the elevators unharmed before heading up to the 33rd floor, where building owner Rudin Properties’ offices are located, “and begins to walk the floor, firing as he traveled.”
- One woman is shot and killed on that floor before Tamura shoots himself in the chest.
- It’s unclear how long the mayhem lasted. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch posted on X at 7:52 p.m.: “The scene has been contained and the lone shooter has been neutralized.”
When asked how much he loved his dad, Azhaan replied, “One hundred percent.”
Islam, a native of Bangladesh who lived in the Bronx, had served with the NYPD for four years before he was killed.
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The gunman had intended to target the NFL headquarters in his rampage. Tamura also shot and killed security guard Aland Etienne, 43-year-old Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, and Rudin Management employee Julia Hyman before turning the gun on himself.
Tuesday’s scholarship ceremony comes a day after the NYPD honored 194 cops for “meritorious” or “excellent” police work for their response to the Park Avenue shooting.
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