Cuomo among hundreds of mourners at wake for NYPD Officer Brian Moore

All day Thursday and into the night, police officers in their dress blues lined up outside a Bethpage funeral home for a few moments of reflection at the casket of their fallen brother, NYPD Officer Brian Moore.

Officers from the NYPD and Nassau and Suffolk police departments, and others from law enforcement in places like Syracuse, Philadelphia and New Jersey, were among scores who mourned Moore's death at a wake inside the Fredrick J. Chapey & Sons Funeral Home.

The Massapequa native, 25, was working in plainclothes in Queens Village Saturday night when he was shot in the head by an ex-convict with a lengthy criminal record, police said.

Demetrius Blackwell, 35, was arrested about 90 minutes afterward in connection with the shooting. Moore died two days later at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.

His funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Seaford. Because of multiple road closures for the funeral, schools in the Farmingdale school district will be closed Friday, officials said.

At the wake, police officers and politicians mixed with Moore's family and friends inside the funeral home.

A somber Deputy Insp. Michael Coyle, Moore's commanding officer at the 105th Precinct in Queens Village, described the five-year veteran as "a real crime fighter, a true believer . . . a heart of gold."

Cops from the precinct less than 2 miles from where Moore was shot are "truly heartbroken," Coyle said.

"He was a commanding officer's dream," Coyle said. "If I had an army of Brian Moores, there'd be no crime in the city."

American flags, blue ribbons and signs proclaiming "We support our police" and "Blue Lives Matter" hung on buildings, fences and homes in neighborhoods near the funeral home.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson paid their respects.

De Blasio stayed for about 45 minutes and left without speaking to reporters.

Security was high, as is the custom at police funerals.

Snipers looked down from nearby rooftops, and heavily armed Nassau County Police Department Bureau of Special Operations officers roamed the streets toting machine guns.

Moore is the third NYPD officer killed in the line of duty in five months.

Cuomo, who spoke to reporters as he left, said he offered his condolences to the family, including Moore's father, a retired NYPD sergeant.

"I said to the father, 'Your son must have really loved you. He followed Dad into the business,' " Cuomo said, adding: "I know a little about that. I followed my father into the business. There is a sense of love and respect . . . from son to father that is louder than any words."

Cuomo called the officer's killing a "terrible tragedy" and said it was an "awful, frightening reminder of the sacrifice that so many young men and women in law enforcement face."

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton attended the wake but did not speak to reporters.

People from in and around where Moore grew up and still lived -- some clad in NYPD T-shirts bearing his name -- said they were touched by the tragedy. Ginny Pawlowski, 74, of North Massapequa, said she didn't know Moore or his family, but shed tears as she spoke about the "heartbreak" and "devastation" that Moore's killing has brought to the community.

"Everybody feels it," she said, breaking into tears. "It's devastating. He was only 25 years old."

Coyle described Moore as a "police officer through and through. He loved the NYPD. He loved the one-o-five. He was such a popular guy. . . . He was a true hero."

-- With Alison Fox

FUNERAL FRIDAY

The funeral Mass for NYPD Officer Brian Moore of Massapequa is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at St. James Roman Catholic Church, 80 Hicksville Rd., Seaford. Among the expected parking delays and road closures:

No parking 6 a.m.-2 p.m. on Union Avenue, Seamans Neck Road and on Stewart Avenue and Hicksville Road, from Hempstead Turnpike to the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway.

Stewart Avenue and Hicksville Road, from Hempstead Turnpike to the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway, and Union Avenue and Seamans Neck Road, from Hicksville Road to Cordwood Lane, will be closed 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. Friday.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.