The NYPD officer who died after being shot in the head while on duty in Queens over the weekend will be laid to rest on Friday.
About 50 people, including colleagues from officer Brian Moore's Queens precinct, watched as a procession carrying the Long Island native's body arrived Tuesday at Frank J. Chapey and Sons Funeral Home in Bethpage.
The 25-year-old Moore, who came from a family of cops and fulfilled his own dream of joining the NYPD, according to friends and neighbors, died Monday afternoon after being taken off life support at Jamaica Hospital two days after the shooting in Queens Village. Moore had been put in a medically induced coma and had undergone surgeries for "severe injuries to his skull and brain."
Neighbors near the 105th Precinct station in Queens Village streamed by all day Tuesday to pay their respects to Moore, leaving flowers and signs at a growing makeshift memorial.
Nurka Pena, who brought her young daughters, said, "It is important for them to know how police are helping us, the community. They are part of us. They protect us. And we love the police."
Carlito Rios said, "I just felt like I had to be here. There's a part of me that I had to be here."
Gov. Cuomo ordered flags lowered to half-staff for Moore, the son of a now-retired NYPD veteran who grew up and lived in Massapequa, until he is buried. Moore graduated from Plainedge High School, where thousands packed the bleachers and football field Monday night to remember him.
Neighbors knew the Moores as a police family. In addition to his father, Moore's uncle was also a retired NYPD officer and his cousins are currently officers. The young officer's family, wearing NYPD shirts and hats, attended a packed vigil for the slain cop hours after his death.
Some fought back tears.
Earlier, a line of Nassau police officers stood by in silence as Moore's family returned to their home from the hospital, where they were at Moore's bedside when he passed away.
Moore proved himself an exceptional officer since joining the force in 2010, making 150 arrests and winning four medals for his police work, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
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"It's a great loss to his family, a great loss to the department and a great loss to his profession and his city," Bratton said.
Moore and his partner were in plainclothes and in an unmarked police car when they approached Demetrius Blackwell Saturday after they saw him adjusting his waistband, a move that made them suspicious he had a handgun, authorities said.
The officers pulled up next to Blackwell, 35, and exchanged words before the man allegedly turned, pulled out a weapon and fired at least twice at them, striking Moore in the head and face, according to court documents.
Blackwell will be charged with first-degree murder, prosecutors said after Moore's death. Before Moore died, he was charged with attempted murder and other crimes. He is being held without bail and has not entered a plea. His attorney has denied the charges.
In a statement Tuesday, Kory Blackwell, a cousin of the suspect and a former NFL player, said it was devastating to learn of his relative's alleged involvement in the officer's death.
"There are no words strong enough to convey my sorrow over what has cast a devastating shadow over many lives," Kory Blackwell, a former cornerback for the Giants, said in the statement. "The Blackwell family does not and never has condoned violence in any form. For years, our family tried to help Demetrius lead a more productive and law abiding life. My heart goes out to the family for their tragic loss.”
Police said Tuesday the handgun used to fatally shoot Moore is the ninth of 23 weapons reported stolen from a Georgia pawn shop in 2011 to be recovered on the city's streets.
Two of the guns taken from Little's Bait & Tackle Pawn Shop in Perry, Georgia, on Oct. 3, 2011, were found within five months during field stops, police said Tuesday. Five others were recovered during investigations, they said.
The eighth was found during a car stop on Feb. 8, 2012, in the Bronx.
The shop owner's sister-in-law said she feels terrible about Moore's death.
