Police horse named for NYPD cop from Centereach killed on 9/11

The last moments of NYPD Officer Walter Weaver's life were spent desperately trying to free passengers trapped in  an elevator stuck at the sixth floor in the World Trade Center's north tower on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

While the remains of Weaver, of Centereach, were never found, his legacy in the NYPD will continue after a horse in the department's Mounted Unit was named for the fallen officer during a ceremony in the Bronx on Thursday.

The horse, an 8-year-old mustang, is now known as Wally, Weaver's nickname.

"I was just blown away," Walter's brother, Brian Weaver of Florida, said of the honor. "This is yet again another part of his legacy living on. And that people still care makes me feel warm inside."

In total, 10 four-legged graduates were sworn in Thursday as the city's newest mounted officers during a ceremony at the NYPD’s Remount School of Horsemanship in Pelham Bay Park. 

The in-person ceremony, the first since the start of the pandemic, was attended by NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and included the renaming of five horses after officers who died in the line of duty.

They include three officers who died during the Sept. 11 attacks — Weaver, NYPD Officer Paul Talty of Wantagh and Emergency Services Officer Santos Valentin, who was stationed in Brooklyn.

Horses were also renamed for NYPD Officer John Kelly, who was killed in 2000 when his cruiser struck a utility pole during a pursuit of a stolen motorcycle, and Thomas Waterman, a retired officer from Rockland County who succumbed in 2019 to a 9/11-related cancer.

Weaver, who was 30 when he died, served with the NYPD for nine years and was assigned to Emergency Services Unit Truck 3 in the Bronx. He was not scheduled to work on Sept. 11, family members said, but was filling in for a colleague. He was posthumously awarded the NYPD's Medal of Honor for his heroism.

"My brother died doing what Jesus would have done — saving trapped civilians in an elevator," Brian Weaver said. "He was a loving, caring, kind person."

Sharon Quinn of Wantagh said her cousin was an animal lover, making the dedication even more special.

"He dedicated his life to being a police officer," said Quinn, who attended the ceremony. "He was just one of those persons that would do anything for anyone. He had a real good heart. His friends knew that. If anybody ever needed anything he was there for you."

At first, Bill Weaver, Walter's father, couldn’t bring himself to go to Ground Zero. At Brian Weaver’s urging, he eventually did.

Bill Weaver took the LIRR to Manhattan, then walked around the site’s perimeter, roughly five miles long, Brian Weaver said. He did it again the next day and the day after that, continuing the daily pilgrimage for the next eight years until he died in 2010.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.