NEW YORK — The funeral for the rookie police officer fatally shot in Harlem will be held in Manhattan’s iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The wake for Officer Jason Rivera is slated to take place Thursday afternoon inside the historic Midtown house of worship with a funeral Friday morning, sources familiar with the planning said Sunday.
Rivera, 22, was shot dead on Friday, and his partner, Wilbert Mora, critically wounded, by an armed ex-convict after the alleged killer’s mother called 911 asking for help.
After Rivera’s death, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch asked the public to attend his funeral to “send a message” that hurting a police officer won’t be tolerated.
“It can’t be just us. Yes, we will stand patch to patch and bury our brother. We will bow our heads in sadness, but we need you too,” Lynch said. “The streets can’t just be filled with New York City police officers at this funeral. The public has to come.”
In 2017, some 12,000 officers flooded into St. Patrick’s Cathedral, lining the blocks around Fifth Avenue, to mourn the death of NYPD Detective Steven McDonald, who died more than 30 years after a teenage gunman shot and paralyzed him in 1986.
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