https://twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/1623743628471570432
By Emma Seiwell and Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — A funeral service for NYPD Officer Adeed Fayaz, fatally shot in the head during a botched robbery, will be held Thursday in the borough he protected and served, according to police.
NYPD officials were finalizing the details Wednesday for the funeral of Officer Adeed Fayaz, who died Tuesday after being shot in the head during a furious exchange of gunfire amid a Saturday night robbery in East New York, Brooklyn.
A viewing will take place at Al-Rayaan Muslim Funeral Services, followed by the funeral at the Makki Masjid Muslim Community Center on Coney Island Ave. in Midwood, sources said.
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Fayaz lived in Deer Park, Long Island, but worked in the 66th Precinct in Borough Park. The five-year veteran was also an active member in the Muslim Officers Society.
“Extremely sad and heartbreaking to announce the death of one of our proud members, Police Officer Adeed Fayaz,” the society tweeted Tuesday. “He was a dedicated and hard working officer that put his life on the line each day to protect the people of #NYC”.
Fayaz’s family had to put aside its grief to handle the details of the arrangements.
“It’s been difficult for everyone,” said Ali Farrukh, 18, Fayaz’s cousin. “He’s only 26, with two children, and they’re very little, too.
“He was a super humble guy. He was an outgoing, energetic, young guy. I look up to him a lot. I’m hoping to become a cop,” Farrukh continued. “I always told him that — ‘I want to be a cop, I wanna be a cop.’ He would laugh at me. There’s definitely an empty spot now.”
Abdul Razzaq Aziz, the imam at Islamic Center of Deer Park, said Adeed came to pray at the center a handful of times. They have been praying for him and his family every day since the shooting, he said.
“When I heard he passed away, it was very sad news for us,” Aziz said. “For the whole community, for the New York Police Department, also.
“He was a very good guy, very nice, very polite.,” he added. “Very helpful, good manners. We pray for him. May God give him his blessing and forgive him. I hope he will be in the paradise.”
Neighbors described the fallen cop as a friendly young dad who would volunteer to shovel their walkways. When he wasn’t working, he was fixing up his home and building outdoor play sets for his children, neighbor Dawn Fisher said.
“[He has] little, little kids,” Fisher, 49, said. “God, it’s heartbreaking! I’ve been physically sick.
“I think it speaks to his level of maturity and responsibility to have kids at such a young age,” she added. “This is a ... family man — two little kids, going to work every day, literally to get dumped on by society. I’m so heartsick.”
Fayaz and his brother-in-law had traveled to Ruby St. on Saturday night intending to buy a Honda Pilot they saw for sale on Facebook Marketplace when the supposed seller, Randy “Popper” Jones, pulled a gun on them, according to police.
Jones allegedly shot Fayaz in the head during a fierce struggle. The fallen cop’s brother-in-law grabbed Fayaz’s gun from its holster to shoot back at the fleeing Jones.
The brother-in-law fired six rounds to Jones’ five, with at least one bullet striking the suspect’s getaway vehicle, cops said.
Cops tracked Jones, 38, to a hotel in Rockland County. He was arrested Monday in front of his girlfriend and five children, ages 6 months to 11 years old.
Once in custody, the officers cuffed the suspect with Fayaz’s handcuffs, officials said.
Jones was charged with murder, attempted robbery and weapons possession and was ordered held without bail in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Wednesday as more than 100 cops glowered at him from the courtroom gallery.
The shooter killed Fayaz “like he’s not a person with a family that loves him,” neighbor Fisher said.
“Because he doesn’t want to get up and get a job, [he put his needs] over the value of a human life. It’s disgusting,” she added. “If this can happen to a 26-year-old healthy man who’s a cop, an NYPD officer with training, it can happen to anyone.”
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