Like his partner, NYPD Officer Jason Rivera, five days before him, Wilber Mora was posthumously promoted to Detective First Grade.
New York's Finest turned out in huge numbers again on Wednesday to pay their respects to a slain officer.
For the second time in less than a week, men and women in blue from near and far gathered on Fifth Avenue to bid farewell to one of their own. NYPD Officer Wilbert Mora was honored in the city's famed St. Patrick's Cathedral.
The ceremony for the 27-year-old slain officer was held five days after the funeral of his 22-year-old partner, Officer Jason Rivera, who was also fatally shot in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence call in Harlem. That day also saw a sea of blue filling Fifth Avenue and beyond as thousands of police officers from across the nation came to pay their respects.
"An ocean of officers shouldn’t have to line streets for the second time in five days to [mourn] the appalling loss of a 27-year-old son and brother, gathered in and around a place that so grandly represents the enormity of faith," NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.
Mora's funeral began with a rendition of "Amazing Grace." His brother, Wilson, gave the eulogy.
"I love you, baby bro, and I will always miss you," he said to applause.
Mora was a four-year veteran of the NYPD and the first in his family to become a police officer. Like Rivera five days before him, Mora was posthumously promoted to Detective First Grade on Wednesday.
"Officer Wilbert Mora was the first in his family to join a profession that asks courageous men & women to leave their loved ones to protect someone else's — just as Wilbert and Jason did when they sacrificed their lives. It’s my honor to promote Wilbert to Detective First Grade," Sewell Tweeted.
The detective's shield was presented to Mora's family.
Mora's heroism continued after his death. "Join us as we pay our respects and mourn the passing of Police Officer Wilbert Mora, who was killed in the line of duty, but in one final act of heroism, donated his organs so five people could continue to live," the NYPD wrote on Twitter Wednesday.
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