NYPD: Wounded Officer Wilbert Mora Transferred To NYU Langone Medical Center, Still In Critical Condition
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Wounded NYPD officer Wilbert Mora was transferred Sunday evening from Harlem Hospital to NYU Langone Medical Center, police said.
Officer Mora remains in critical condition after he was shot in the head during Friday's night's deadly encounter between police and a suspect inside a Harlem apartment.
Police Officer Wilbert Mora will be transferred from Harlem Hospital to NYU Langone Medical Center today. He remains in critical condition. pic.twitter.com/nlPieIEBtF
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) January 23, 2022
Mora joined the NYPD in 2018, the same year he graduated from CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a bachelor's degree.
A police source told CBS2's Lisa Rozner that Mora was training 27-year-old Sumit Sulan, a rookie. Sulan is the cop who shot and injured the suspect, 47-year-old LaShawn McNeil
Police said McNeil opened fire on rookie Officer Jason Rivera, who was killed, and Mora.
McNeil also underwent surgery and remains in critical condition.
Many were waiting for an update on Mora's condition. On Saturday, he underwent a second surgery, and Mayor Eric Adams said he was holding on and fighting for his life.
On Sunday night, Rozner spoke with some neighbors who know Mora.
Members of the NYPD lit candles outside the East 112th Street apartment building where the 27-year-old lives with his family. One man told CBS2 in Spanish he has known the Mora family for 25 years.
"He was very humble," Santo Guerrero said. "He was loved by the whole world over here."
Guerrero added, "This kid is like a son to me and his dad is like a brother to me. I'm in pain. I'm hurting."
He said Mora is the youngest sibling and his parents are from the Dominican Republic.
"Very nice neighbor, very nice," another person said in tears.
Most neighbors CBS2 spoke with didn't know he was protecting the city as an officer, but left messages of support for the family on their apartment door with flowers and at the entrance to the building.
"Very sweet, always said hello, always held the door. Very sad," another neighbor said.
"It's broken heart, you know. This is so for my friend. There's nothing easy," a woman said.
The Mora family is asking for privacy.
Also Sunday, members from dozens of Tri-State Area police departments traveled to Harlem to pay tribute to Rivera.
On Friday night, police responded to a 911 call from a woman who reported a domestic dispute with one of her sons, later identified as McNeil, at their West 135th Street apartment.
The woman told police she recently had a medical procedure and McNeil was in town from Baltimore to help her, but they got into a dispute that led her to call 911.
The woman and a different son were in the living room when three officers arrived, according to police. McNeil was in the rear bedroom and not visible.
When Rivera and Mora approached the bedroom, McNeil allegedly opened fire, striking them both.
As McNeil left the bedroom and attempted to exit the apartment, he encountered the third officer, who fired and struck McNeil in the right arm and head, police said.
McNeil has a history of posting anti-police and anti-government messages on social media, sources told CBS2.