Sorrow, grief sweep vigil in Harlem after 2 NYPD officers shot, 1 fatally
HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- A vigil was held outside a police precinct in Harlem Monday night, to represent solidarity between officers and the community after two cops were shot, one fatally, Friday night.
Hands were raised high in prayer Monday night mourning outside the 32nd precinct.
An NYPD officer lit candles blown out by the cold wind that swept through the crowd on 135th street.
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Nearby residents brought the candles and flowers and they left notes of condolence, while also offering prayers for the families of so many police officers.
There were prayers too, for the officers left behind who still report to work each day after five among them were shot in just the last month.
The latest incident Friday night, turned out to be fatal after 22-year-old rookie officer Jason Rivera was killed and 27-year-old Wilbert Mora was critically wounded after being shot when they responded to a domestic call in Harlem.
"It hurts -- you say immediately that could have been me, I could have been the one answering that call ... amongst a couple of friends we just began to pray and just hope that whatever tragedy had just happened that there would be a positive outcome to that," said Cristian Guity of Police Officers for Christ.
There has not been much positive yet. Some are mobilizing, hoping to change the laws and change the courts in the wake of the surging and deadly violence.
"If a kid is, number one, incarcerated based on carrying a gun there's gotta be stricter laws because guns kill so we're asking those people up in Albany, the legislators to do something to change the laws because the people getting hurt look like me and Hispanics," said Bishop Gerald Seabrook of the United Clergy Coalition.
The goal tonight was to show solidarity between the community and the police who risk their lives to protect it.
It is a message sometimes hard to hear for the officers who work each day in a precinct that carries the names of the fallen on its marble facade.
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