Hundreds of police officers turned out in the pouring rain Wednesday to honor NYPD Det. Brian Moore for his bravery at a somber memorial in Queens — exactly one year after the 25-year-old cop was shot twice in the face while sitting in an unmarked patrol car.
“I thank you all for being here today for the Moore family,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said in Queens Village.
“The men and women of the department standing in the rain and the cold fulfilling the promise that we always make to the families of our fallen heroes that we will never forget,” he said. “And here we are once again with the Moore family a year to the day from the tragedy. We always hope it will not happen but it happens much too frequently.”
Moore was driving an unmarked police car when he pulled over May 2 to ask The officer died two days later.
“There are no words that I can say, that anybody can say that can diminish that grief and who knows that better than the family,” Bratton said.
Bratton remembered honoring Moore, who was from a family of police officers, at his funeral a year ago and saying that he was “the finest of the finest.”
“I talked about how he had the gift, the gift of the eye as we call it,” he said. “The eye when he’s on the street to go instinctively towards harm’s way, toward the danger because he had that gift. Today we celebrate that bravery, we celebrate a great police officer, a great detective.”
‘When he walked into a room, he lit up the room…’
- Irene Moore, Detective Brian Moore's mother
The fallen officer’s mother, Irene Moore, thanked everyone for being at the service.
“There really are no words as we all know, the loss is beyond a tragedy, is something that is felt by all of us every single day and I know that Brian made the ultimate sacrifice, giving his life by doing his job and we will continue to do whatever we need to do to remember him, and to honor him and to cherish all of his memories.”
She said her son smiled every single day and made others smile too.
“When he walked into a room, he lit up the room,” she said. “Every time he walked in, everybody wanted to be near him, everybody couldn’t wait for him to show up.”
Moore’s dad, retired NYPD Sgt. Raymond Moore, shared his grief with the sea of cops and detectives.
“Each day without him has been really tough, especially today,” the heartbroken father said. “It was one year ago that we had to say our final goodbyes to him. He was someone who gave so much and never asked for anything in return. With this turnout today, in this terrible weather, I know Brian would be very proud of his coworkers and the community that he protected so diligently. Let’s all try to aspire to be more like Brian and be the courageous hero that he was.”
Deputy Inspector Michael Coyle, Brooklyn South Detective Squad formerly at the 105 Precinct, called Moore, a 5-year veteran, “a true crime fighter through and through.”
“I loved him, I think about him every day,” Coyle said. “He’s the first thought on my mind when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep.”
He couldn’t help but seethe over the man who pulled the trigger.
“I don’t want to talk about the animal, the monster that did this,” he said. “but hopefully we will have our day in court and justice will be served.”
WATCH: Thousands mourn Detective Brian Moore at his funeral on May 8, 2015