ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani-American officer of the New York Police Department (NYPD) has died after he was shot in the head last week during an off-duty robbery incident, the city’s police commissioner announced on Wednesday morning.
The slain officer, identified as 26-year-old Adeed Fayaz, was rushed to a hospital in Brooklyn after he was shot by robbers on Saturday night.
The NYPD’s Chief of Detectives, James Essig, said the officer been in contact with a person selling a car on Facebook’s Marketplace for $24,000, according to the state-owned news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP). On Saturday night, Fayaz, along with his brother-in-law, went to meet the seller who jokingly asked if any of the two buyers were carrying a gun. Both men denied having any weapons on them. The seller subsequently held Fayaz in a headlock, pointed a gun at his head, and demanded he pay him the money.
When the officer told the perpetrator he had no money, he pointed the gun at the brother-in-law, Essig added. But as Fayaz managed to break free, the perpetrator shot him in the head and fled while continuing to fire toward the officer and his relative.
“Police Officer Adeed Fayaz was a father, a husband, a son, and a protector of our great city. [He] was shot Saturday night and he tragically succumbed to his injuries today,” Keechant Sewell, Police Commissioner of the City of New York, announced in a Twitter post.
“Our Department deeply mourns his passing, and his family and loved ones are in our prayers,” he added.
The Pakistan Consulate General in New York also expressed condolences with the family and colleagues of the slain officer.
“We honor his service and mourn his loss. Our thoughts are with the family, friends and New York law enforcement community during this difficult time,” it said on Twitter.
Following the incident, the NYPD offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and announced on Tuesday evening that a suspect had been taken into custody but charges were pending at that time.
There are about 500 police officers of Pakistani origin serving in the NYPD.
