On January 21, 2022, 22-year-old NYPD officer Jason Rivera responded with two colleagues to a domestic dispute on 135th Street in Harlem. Rivera and Officer Wilbert Mora went down a narrow hallway to a back bedroom where 47-year-old Lashawn McNeil was located; McNeil reportedly burst out and opened fire, ambushing the two officers. Rivera was struck and died shortly after at Harlem Hospital. Mora was critically wounded and died four days later.

A third officer, Sumit Sulan, remained with the mother and another son, then pursued McNeil as he tried to flee and shot him, striking him in the head and arm. McNeil was taken to Harlem Hospital in critical condition and later died from his wounds. Officers recovered a Glock 45 with a high-capacity magazine that had been stolen in Baltimore and found an assault rifle in McNeil’s room. McNeil had a prior felony drug conviction from 2003 and was reportedly on probation at the time.

Rivera had been with the NYPD just over a year, was remembered for wanting better community-police relations, and had been married three months; he was posthumously promoted to Detective First Grade. Does anyone have memories of Rivera or information about the events that night to share?