A flag lowering ceremony was held at 1 Police Plaza this afternoon in honor of an NYPD officer who died from injuries he sustained Sunday while responding to an intentionally set fire in Brooklyn.
Dennis Guerra, 38, was pronounced dead shortly before 7 a.m. at Montefiore Hospital where he had been in critical condition.
Police Commissioner William Bratton was joined by various department heads and staff in Lower Manhattan as the flag was lowered and was followed by a helicopter flyover.
“It is a startling reminder that what can appear to be a routine assignment can very quickly become deadly. Police Officer Guerra gave his life trying to save others. And that is the ultimate selfless act,” Bratton said.
Guerra and fellow officer Rosa Rodriguez were the first to respond to the fire in a high-rise building on Surf Avenue in Coney Island just before 12:30 p.m. Sunday, but the pair barely made it out of the elevator.
Bunting appears outside an NYPD housing bureau building.
Firefighters pulled them out after they discovered the pair unconscious and unresponsive.
Police say 16-year-old Marcell Dockery intentionally set the fire in the Unity Towers, where he lived. Early this week the teen was charged with arson, assault and reckless endangerment in connection with the blaze.
Firefighters brought the fallen police officers to the main entrance, where EMS personnel treated them in front of the Coney Island housing development site #1B.
Guerra was resuscitated in the field and brought to Coney Island Hospital before being airlifted to Jacobi Medical Center.
Police say Rodriguez was initially transported, conscious, to Lutheran Medical Center and was later moved to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center where she remains in a medically-induced coma.
In a statement, Police Commissioner William Bratton said, in part, “The death of a police officer as a result of an intentional act not only affects an individual, it is indeed a direct assault upon society as a whole. The entire city grieves this terrible loss.”
According to police, Guerra was married with four children, while Rodriguez has four children and lives with her mother.
Speaking in Harlem this morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city has suffered a great loss and reminded New Yorkers of the sacrifices made by first responders every day.
He added, “It’s something that our police officers do every day. It’s something our first responders do every day. It is something we need to appreciate every day. Even if a lot of us can’t see ourselves doing something of such bravery, we have to appreciate those who do it on our behalf.”
The mayor has ordered all flags be flown at half-staff on all city buildings and stationary flagstaffs across the city.
In the wake of the fire, Police Commissioner William Bratton says the NYPD is now looking to create new procedures to keep police safe during fire calls.
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