A fleeing suspect shot and killed Holder in the line of duty last week in East Harlem.
Advertisement
Thousands of officers have turned out for the funeral of a New York Police Department officer slain on patrol. Bratton, who has buried four NYPD officers in the past 11 months, choked up as he read a letter written by Holder as a new recruit.
Howard, who Mayor Bill de Blasio described as a “hardened criminal” who “should not have been on the streets”, has a rap sheet of at least 23 arrests.
Of Holder’s family, Seminole County, Florida Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Christie Register said, “I can’t imagine what they are going through, but I do know they have a lot of people backing them and that are going to support them for many, many years to come”.
“All of New York City is in pain at this moment”, de Blasio said in his eulogy.
In dedicating his life to the service of others, Officer Holder exemplified the best of our community and served as a guiding light for us all.
Tyrone Howard, 30, of Manhattan, was charged with first-degree murder and robbery for the shooting, and for stealing the bicycle that he jumped off of immediately before he allegedly fired a single shot into Holder’s forehead shortly after 8:30 p.m. near the F.D.R. Drive in Manhattan. “Police officers run toward gunfire because that is what they do-they are cops”, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. “They didn’t pull back”, Bratton said in his remarks.
The service for 33-year-old Holder, who was killed in the city’s East Harlem neighborhood, began Wednesday afternoon at the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York.
Holder and Wallace “went toward that danger”. “Why? It’s what we do…. It’s what we do”. There was loud applause when he left the podium to give the badge to the father.
Advertisement
Holder’s fiancee, Maryiane Muhammad, also spoke, telling mourners his death was teaching her a painful lesson in courage. “You have chosen to be both target and hero”. He was a Guyanese immigrant and his body will be flown to his home country for burial Thursday. “It could be argued that to the loved one of an officer, we chose the same fate”. “Our feeling of grief and sorrow is only made greater by the fact that Officer Randolph Holder was a son of Far Rockaway”.
