7 NYPD officers shot in first weeks of 2022

(NewsNation Now) — An off-duty New York City police officer shot Saturday was the seventh time an NYPD officer has been shot so far this year.

The off-duty officer was shot in the left foot as he was leaving a vigil at a Manhattan community center, police said. The officer was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside hospital in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery, police said.

The year started with a sleeping NYPD officer shot just hours into the new year and continued with another six officers shot in the first weeks of 2022.

An off-duty NYPD officer was shot in Queens in an apparent attempted carjacking as he headed to work, authorities said. Two suspects were taken into custody shortly after the gunfire.

Before that, an officer and a 16-year-old suspect were both shot by the same bullet on Jan. 18. An officer was also shot while executing a search warrant in Staten Island on Jan. 20.

Two of the seven officers shot this year — Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora — died of their injuries. They were shot on Jan. 21 when they responded to a domestic incident in Harlem.

“This was an attack on the city of New York,” Mayor Eric Adams said after they were shot.

On Sunday during a community gathering in Harlem, police officials and others called for an end to this gun violence.

Former NYPD Chief Rodney Harrison, the current Suffolk County Police Commissioner, revealed he has two daughters who joined the NYPD themselves.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, I’m scared every time they walk out. the door,” he said. “I make sure I give them a hug or give him a kiss because I’m concerned about them coming home.”

President Biden visited New York City last Thursday to meet with Mayor Eric Adams, a former New York City police captain who was elected last year, and Gov. Kathy Hochul to announce new plans to combat gun violence days after two police officers were fatally shot by a man with an illegal gun. 

“The answer is not to defund the police,” Biden said. “It is to give you the tools, the training, the funding to be partners, to be protectors and know the community.”

NewsNation affiliate WPIX and the Associated Press contributed to this report.