NYPD Officer Adeed Fayaz of Deer Park remembered at funeral as loving family man who dreamed of joining aviation unit

NYPD Officer Adeed Fayaz was excited for his big interview with the police department's Aviation Unit  — his dream job  — and had just scored well on the sergeant's exam, all part of the Deer Park resident's plans to forge a lasting career in the police department. 

But instead, the 26-year-old husband and father of two young sons, was killed after being shot in the head last Saturday night during an attempted robbery while he was off duty. 

Devoted to his family. Hardworking and uncomplaining. Driven. Those were the words used to describe Fayaz at his funeral Thursday at a Brooklyn mosque where thousands gathered to mourn him in a service that was marked by the traditions of the NYPD as well as Fayaz's Islamic faith. 

“His colleagues will tell you his enthusiasm was legendary, his generosity was limitless, that he’d give you the shirt off his back or lend you the extra pants he always kept in his locker," said NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell, who wore a headscarf as she spoke from a lectern inside the mosque. "They will tell you, he learned and studied with passion and he was well on his way to make sergeant. Officer Fayaz would tell you he aspired to be in aviation, to one day lead his own command, to continue to serve, to shape the next generation of protectors."

Scores of police officers from the NYPD, wearing black mourning bands across their shields, lined the inside of the Makki Masjid Muslim Community Center in Midwood. Fayaz's mahogany coffin was draped with the blue, white and green flag of the NYPD and earlier, during the visitation, wrapped with a green Muslim coffin sheet. 

Members of Fayaz's family, including his father, two uncles and aunt also addressed the mourners tearfully, with his father decrying the scourge of gun violence.

"I want to request that we stop this gun violence," said the father, Sadaqat Fayaz. "United States of America, great in every way, and they can stop this, too."

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, himself a former NYPD captain, spoke about the significance of Fayaz — a native of Pakistan and a Muslim — in the police department as "a symbol of what is great about this country" as he spoke at the roughly 90-minute-long service. 

“Officer Adeed Fayaz is representative of that," said Adams. "He stayed. He raised his right hand. He swore to take an oath to serve and protect. He became a symbol of what is great about this country. Today, we celebrate his life. We celebrate the fortitude and courage of the Muslim officers throughout this entire city." 

Adams also spoke directly to Fayaz's family: "Our hearts are broken but our arms are strong. We’ll hold you and lift you up and show you that your son, your husband, did not die in vain." 

The funeral service married the traditions of Islam and the police department. Amid the eulogies by city officials and the sounds of bagpipes, prayers were chanted in Arabic while uniformed officers and others in attendance kneeled and prayed. The police commissioner first addressed the mourners with an Arabic greeting. 

The NYPD closed more than a dozen city blocks to public vehicles. Across from the mosque and funeral home were signs reserving spots for representatives of the Muslim Officers Society and the Pakistani American Law Enforcement Society.

Police officers, including those from Nassau and Suffolk counties, the New York and New Jersey state police and the Newark Police Department, attended the service and the viewing earlier Thursday. Speakers were positioned along Coney Island Avenue to broadcast the service to those outside. People in nearby apartments opened their windows to watch and listen. 

Two banners were tied to the scaffolding in front of the mosque — next to a storefront funeral home — bearing a photo of Fayaz; a black, white and purple American flag; Arabic script and the inscription: “WE MOURN OUR HERO AND SUPPORT THE NYPD.”

Ayesha Ali, the consul general of Pakistan in New York, also spoke, calling Fayaz's work as a law enforcement officer an inspiration to his community. 

"Brother and sisters, this tragedy is a reminder of the sacrifices made by law enforcement officers every day, whether on duty or off duty," said Ali. 

"In our religion we say that, 'to Allah we belong, and to Allah we return,'" said Ali. "Adeed's death is a martyrdom. He is a shadid; he is a martyr. And the blessings of the martyr and the sacrifices of the martyrs never go in vain." 

Assigned to the 66th Precinct covering the Borough Park, Midwood and Kensington sections of Brooklyn, Fayaz was well-respected, said the precinct's commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Jason P. Hagestad, who spoke at the service. 

"My supervisors always raved about Adeed," said Hagestad. "He never complained, always accepted his assignments with the utmost professionalism."

Fayaz "always had a positive attitude, he was always smiling, he was always confident," and was known around the precinct as "the go-to guy for any questions on patrol."

But, Hagestad said, "Adeed was always the happiest when he was talking about his children." 

Fayaz, an immigrant from Pakistan, came to the United States when he was 5 years old. He decided in middle school that he wanted to be a police officer. He leaves his wife Madiha Sabeel and his sons Rayan, 4, and Zayan, 3, as well as his father and his mother, Riffat Perveen. 

His sons, Sewell said, "were his greatest joys and achievement." 

Fayaz had moved from Queens to Deer Park for more space for his sons and was in the process of co-signing a home loan for his sister. 

"He was pouring the foundation of a life well-lived," the police commissioner said. 

At the morning viewing, Fayaz's coffin was flanked on each side by a police officer. On one side was an American flag and on the other an NYPD flag. Mourners filed past the coffin, flower bouquets and several large photos of Fayaz — standing next to a police car, in a dress shirt and blazer, next to the police department flag. Fayaz's family sat in the corner of the room. 

Randy Jones, 38, the alleged gunman, has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and other crimes after he was arrested in Rockland County. He was ordered held without bail during an arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court on Wednesday,

Jones shot Fayaz in the head when Fayaz and his brother-in-law went to Brooklyn to purchase a Honda Pilot advertised on Facebook Marketplace. Fayaz’s brother-in-law then removed the officer’s service weapon from his holster and fired at least six times at the fleeing Jones, who drove away in a black BMW.

The dashcam video camera in the brother-in-law's TLC car provided key evidence in the case, capturing the license plate of Jones' vehicle.

After the service, as Fayaz's coffin was loaded into the hearse, the cries of his widow could be heard among the silence of the officers standing at attention. 

For Fayaz, whose dream of commanding an NYPD helicopter could not come true, a trio of police helicopters flew overhead in a final police department salute.