A five-year NYPD veteran and father of three died Tuesday from a bullet fired during a bungled Brooklyn armed robbery attempt where the young cop was shot in the head, police said.
Officer Adeed Fayaz was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital after the Saturday evening off-duty shooting and died there Tuesday, officials announced. He joined the department in 2017 and was assigned to Brooklyn’s 66th Precinct.
Family members and fellow officers gathered at his bedside in recent days, praying for a miracle while bracing for the worst. The young cop was listed in critical condition upon arriving at the facility after a car sale scam led to his death, allegedly at the hands of a recidivist criminal.
A family friend on the scene Tuesday said the officer was the father of two sons and a daughter.
“Great person, great father,” a close friend of the family said at the hospital. “He liked to play around with [the kids] and take them out. Very good father. It’s devastating to imagine his kids growing up without a father.”
Fayaz, 26, was placed into a headlock by suspect Randy “Popper” Jones before the alleged killer began shooting on a secluded street in East New York after luring the off-duty officer to the scene with the promise of a new car for sale, officials said.
The young officer was accompanied by his brother-in-law before the bullets started flying and the suspect fled the scene. The brother-in-law grabbed the gun out of the wounded officer’s holster to fire back at the shooter but missed.
“No one has one bad thing to say about him,” said an officer who graduated the Police Academy with Fayaz. “He’s a great person.”
Retired NYPD officer Ahmen Nasser, who became friends with the young cop through the Muslim Officer Society, had a message for the killer as he waited at the hospital.
“I hope you rot in hell,” said the 57-year-old Nasser. “What can you say about a police officer? It’s someone who dedicated their life to serve and protect. And he’s family man. A good man. He will be dearly missed.”
The accuser killer was arrested with the late cop’s handcuffs when taken into custody Monday for the cold-blooded killing during the furious exchange of gunfire in an alley where the men were supposed to close a Facebook Marketplace deal on a Honda Pilot. Fayaz’s brother in-law escaped the wild shootout without injury.
“When it hits home, everyone comes together,” said a police officer at the hospital. “It’s always the innocent.”