PHOTO: Slain Police Officer Randolph Holder. Photos Courtesy of NYPD and Twitter/Erin Clarke
The collective heart of Little Guyana was wrapped in purple and black bunting last Saturday evening as the Richmond Hill community mourned the murder of city Police Officer Randolph Holder at a candlelight vigil on Liberty Avenue.
Holder, 33, a Guyanese immigrant with five years on the force, was gunned down on Oct. 20 while responding to a call of shots fired in East Harlem. Tyrone “Peanut” Howard, 30, a recidivist criminal with suspected gang ties, has been charged in the slaying.
Holder’s family attended the somber memorial ceremony, which was led by clergy and elected officials.
“Randolph’s death is a catalyst to unite the community,” Holder’s Uncle Desmond King said in a Time Warner Cable News NY1 report. “The police and the citizen, we have got to come together and be one.”
Since Holder’s death last week, notes of prayer and gratitude have poured into The Forum.
“Words can’t describe the shock of losing yet another brave NYPD hero in such short a time span,” said Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Howard Beach). “Our feeling of grief and sorrow is only made greater by the fact that Officer Randolph Holder was a son of Far Rockaway. In dedicating his life to the service of others, Officer Holder exemplified the best of our community and served as a guiding light for us all. Today I join families in Rockaway and across the city in mourning this senseless murder. My thoughts and prayers are now with him and his family.”
The Richmond Hill Guyanese community came together last weekend to honor Holder, a Guyanese immigrant, in a candlelight vigil.
Holder, who was assigned to Police Service Area 5, is the fourth city police officer to be killed in the line of duty in the past 10 months.
“While others run from gunfire, police officers run to the gunfire. It is easy for us to understand why we run away. It is harder for us to understand why cops run toward it. Much of what a police officer does is difficult if not impossible for us to understand. Police officers run toward gunfire because that is what they do—they are cops,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
“Cops protect us from those who would harm us if the police weren’t there. Every time a police officer turns out at the start of a tour, they put their lives on the line for each of us. [Last Tuesday night] Police Officer Randolph Holder, Shield # 13340, gave his life protecting each of us. Today the long blue line is saddened but intact. Police officers will turn out tonight and tomorrow and every day to protect us. They will do so because they are cops and that is what cops do.
On behalf of every member of the Queens District Attorney’s Office, I extend our condolences and prayers to the family of Police Officer Holder.”
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
