BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Two NYPD officers injured in a shootout with an ex-con in Bedford-Stuyvesant received honors from the Brooklyn community Tuesday.
The 81st Precinct Community and Clergy Councils' “Celebration of Bravery” paid tribute to Officers Andrew Yurkiw and William Reddin, with elected officials and local faith-based groups presenting the two with proclamations.
“We’re just real proud to be here and we’re honored by the community,” Reddin, 33, said.
“They show us this much support and appreciation day in and day out, and we’re just honored to be here today.”
Both officers were wounded in a Feb. 20 gun battle with Jamal Funes, who sparked the exchange after crashing into a marked police car, according to officials.
Reddin was hit in the hip by several bullet fragments, according to police, and Yurkiw, 29, was shot in his bulletproof vest.
“Anybody that knows me, knows that I brag that I have the best cops in the police department,” 81st Precinct Inspector Scott Henderson told the crowd, adding that it was a day to celebrate “success stories.”
“I also have the best community in the city, Bed-Stuy. Because we can't do what we do alone.”
Reddin, who has been with the NYPD for nine years, is a senior police officer in the precinct’s anti-crime unit with more than 360 arrests, the Inspector said.
Yurkiw has been with the NYPD for four years, and joined the anti-crime unit about two months before the shootout, according to Henderson.
Several speakers praised the duo for their commitment and sacrifice.
“A year ago, our city mourned two officers that were assassinated senselessly,” Bishop Dr. Ismael Claudio said, referencing the 2014 murders of NYPD Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos.
“And the reason that we took this moment to celebrate this occasion is because sometimes we as a community get tired of crime," he said. "And to know that divine providence kept these two officers [Reddin and Yurkiw] alive in the face of danger, it is to us an honor to have them both here."
Following presentations from a local worship group and fellow NYPD officers and detectives, Yurkiw and Reddin thanked the community for their support.
