Fallen police officer, Brooklynite, mourned

A five-year veteran of the New York City Police Department who hailed from Brooklyn has become the fourth cop to be murdered in the line of duty in the last year.

Officer Randolph Holder, 33, was shot in the head while pursuing a suspect said to have stolen a bike at gunpoint near East 102nd Street and First Avenue in Manhattan just past 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20.

Police say the suspect was apprehended a few blocks away with a gunshot wound to his leg.

Holder lived in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn after growing up in Queens, where his family still lives.

“For the fourth time in 11 months, we find ourselves grasping for words to express the sadness and anger we feel over a fallen officer,” said Congressmember Daniel Donovan, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island, in a statement. “Every day, a cadre of men and women just like us put on their uniforms and go to work. But their job isn’t like any of ours. They keep us safe on our commutes; they protect our children on their way to school; they stand between the safest big city in America and a descent into the ugly days of prior decades. They’re selfless, courageous, and heroic, and our support for them can never waiver.”

Holder joined the force in 2010 and was assigned to the Housing Bureau. He was a third-generation police officer – his father and grandfather having served in Guyana, where Holder emigrated from.

As of Wednesday, city officials had ordered all flags citywide to be lowered to half-staff until the day of Holder’s interment

“I join the residents of Brooklyn and all of New York City in mourning the death of NYPD Officer Randolph Holder, who was fatally and tragically shot in the line of duty,” said Borough President Eric Adams. “As a veteran of the New York City Police Department, I feel the pain of this horrific loss on a personal level, as do all those that make up the fraternity of New York’s Finest.”