What to Know
- NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, 41, was shot and killed while responding to a home invasion in the Bronx Nov. 4, officials say
- Another sergeant, Emmanuel Kwo, 30, was also shot; he has since been released from the hospital
- The suspect, 35-year-old Manuel Rosales, was killed in the shootout with police; he has 17 prior arrests in Suffolk, police say
Thousands of NYPD officers stood shoulder-to-shoulder for nearly a mile to pay their respects to Sergeant Paul Tuozzolo, who died last week after he was shot while trying to apprehend a 35-year-old man who held his family hostage in the Bronx.
Helicopters circled the area overhead as local officials, family and residents packed the streets outside St. Rose of Lima church in Massapequa. A sea of navy blue uniforms was visible for blocks as a seemingly endless motorcade of at least 50 NYPD motorcycles cruised through Merrick Road.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Mayor de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill were among the thousands who gathered Thursday morning for the funeral of the 41-year-old father of two.
Another NYPD officer was grazed in the leg in Friday's shootout; he has since been released from the hospital. The suspect, Manuel Rosales, was killed.
The NYPD's Pipes and Drums of the Emerald Society marched in their traditional emerald green attire playing bagpipes, followed by a black hearse. Six officers hoisted Tuozzolo's casket, draped in a green-and-white-striped NYPD flag, onto their shoulders and carried him into the church.
SBA President Ed Mullins pledged the NYPD's loyalty to Lisa Tuozzolo and her two sons, Austin and Joseph, and described her husband's actions as nothing less than heroic in a heartfelt eulogy.
"These three little words, duty, honor, and country, are words that were woven into the fiber of Sergeant Paul Tuozzolo's being," he said. "It's how he was raised. It's what he believed."
O'Neill told mourners that Tuozzolo was "everything we could wish for in a police officer." During the eulogy, with his voice cracking, O'Neill posthumously promoted Tuozzolo to sergeant-special assignment.
Condolences rolled out from across the country for the 19-year NYPD veteran, who would have been eligible to retire next year.
At a wake Wednesday, former partner Yalcin Kiyar, who worked the late shift with Tuozzolo at NYPD's 43rd Precinct, called him a "great cop" and a "wonderful father."
"My wife was heartbroken, I was heartbroken," Kiyar recalled of getting the news of Tuozzolo's death. "I remember when Paul was dating his wife. We had met them at a restaurant. It's just heartbreaking."
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The family of Wenjian Liu -- the NYPD officer who was killed alongside his partner Rafael Ramos as they sat in their squad car two years ago -- was also at the wake, hugging officers outside.
Tuozzolo is the fifth NYPD officer to be shot to death in the line of duty in the last two years.
