MONROE, N.Y. - Friends and loved ones paid their respects Thursday at the wake for NYPD Officer Brian Mulkeen.
A video captured the six-year veteran sitting in the passenger seat just an hour before he died, depicting him the way so many want to remember him — full of life.
Throughout the day in Mulkeen’s hometown of Monroe, hundreds of officers and mourners stood on line in the rain with umbrellas in hand to pay their final respects.
NYPD Captain Jeff Heilig, Mulkeen’s boss in the Bronx Anti-Crime Unit, says it was an honor to work alongside him.
"He was a gentle giant and I mean that. When it was time to be on the street and be the police, he was. When it was time to be compassionate and have a heart, he did. It’s not only a loss for this department. It’s a loss for the entire country," Heilig said.
The 33-year-old was killed by friendly fire Sunday during what police call a violent struggle with an armed man at the Edenwald Houses in the Bronx. The suspect was shot and killed by police as well.
City Hall says it is now increasing security at the public housing complex.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. says he wants to make sure Mulkeen’s family know the suspects he was trying to apprehend do not represent all Bronxites.
"We are all hurt. We are all mourning and whenever we lose a police officer, especially one with the caliber of Mulkeen who was by all accounts a hero, who was not only taking the bad guys off the streets but also being an inspiration to those who were borderline in the community," Diaz Jr. said.
At Fordham University, Mulkeen was a track and field athlete and a champion weight thrower. He worked on Wall Street after graduating in 2008 but believed it was his calling in life to work as a police officer. He first joined the Tuxedo, New York police force before entering the NYPD academy seven years ago.
The funeral for Officer Mulkeen is at 11 a.m. Friday morning. According to the NYPD, local schools in Monroe will be closed because they’re expecting upwards of 25,000 mourners.