Sons of NYPD cop Didarul Islam idolized dad killed by Park Ave. shooter
He will always be their hero.
The sons of the NYPD officer killed in the Park Avenue mass shooting idolized their dad, showing him off to classmates and even dressing up and “walking firmly” like their idol.
Police Officer Didarul Islam’s oldest son Ahyan decked himself out in NYPD blues while at his preschool in Bronxdale, a teacher who taught both boys in the Bronx recalled to The Post.
“He said, ‘I wear my police uniform just like my dad,’” said teacher Tajwattie Singh, of the boy, who’s now 7.
“He looked just like a police officer and he behaved like one with his blue uniform and hat,” she said. “He was walking firmly like a police officer.”
Islam, 36, came to her classroom hand-in-hand this past Father’s Day with his youngest son Azhaan, 5.
“When they came in, he had the dad’s hand and he said to the class, ‘My dad is a police officer,’” beaming with pride.
“That’s the first time I saw him in uniform,” Singh said of the father. “Most of the time he works later. That’s why usually he’s not in his uniform.”
Islam was shot and killed Monday evening when maniac Shane Tamura, walked into the NFL headquarters building at East 51st Street and Park Avenue carrying an AR-15 and blasted Islam, who was working a side job providing security. Tamura fired 47 rounds, murdering four people and injuring one, before fatally turning the gun on himself.
Tamura, 27, who worked at the Horseshoe hotel and casino in Las Vegas, had no affiliation with the NFL but played football in high school and blamed the NFL for covering up chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease caused by repetitive head trauma. It’s not yet clear if Tamura had the disease.
When Singh was called early Tuesday morning with the news of Islam’s death she was beside herself with grief.
Singh is still stunned that the young father’s young life was snuffed out.
“I just saw him,” said the 72-year-old teacher from Guyana. “I can’t believe that happened to him.”
The last time she saw Islam he was in his uniform dropping off Ahyan just before school ended in June.
“I told him ‘You look so handsome in your uniform,’” she said. “He would always say ‘Good morning Ms. Singh.’”
“The kids were so proud of him,” she recalled. “They would always talk about their dad.”
She feels horrible for his widow, Jamila Akhter, who is 8-months pregnant with a third boy.
“She’s going to be lost,” Singh said. “The baby won’t even know his dad.”
“He was so nice I wouldn’t think we’d lose a person like that so early.
“The mother is very sweet and also always smiling,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
Chloe Pashman, education director at the preschool, who asked The Post not to identify the school, said the students, families and teachers consider each other family.
“It’s a very close-knit community,” she said. “We call ourselves a family. It was very devastating, very shocking.”
The NYPD officers patrolling the neighborhood are also part of that family.
“The police officers in the neighborhood have always been so supportive of our school,” she said.
“When something like this happens, it affects the whole community, including the school community. We have to support our families and our officers.”
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples