Posted on 10/13/2017 2:41:22 PM PDT by BBell
Marcus McNeil's work with the New Orleans Police Department made him feel "like a superhero," his uncle Joseph Gilyot said.
"He wanted to go out and save the city," Gilyot said. "He truly loved his job."
Gilyot, 53, and others who knew McNeil said it was his dream to become a police officer. Just three years after joining the NOPD, McNeil -- a 29-year-old father of two -- was gunned down early Friday morning (Oct. 13) while patrolling in New Orleans East.
Barbara May, a longtime friend of McNeil's family, said she got a call from McNeil's grandmother, Alvena McNeil, at about 8 a.m. telling her he had been killed. As they spoke on the phone, Alvena McNeil lamented, for a moment, her grandson's career choice. Before he joined NOPD in 2014, May said, Marcus McNeil worked at a bank.
May said Alvena McNeil told her over the phone Friday morning she wished her grandson had still been a banker.
"You can't choose for them," May recalled telling Marcus McNeil's grandmother, offering her comfort by telling her, "He died doing what he wanted to do."
May and Alvena McNeil have lived next door to each other on Dixon Street in Hollygrove since the 1970s, May said. Marcus McNeil grew up from birth until he was a young man in his grandmother's house. It was known that Marcus McNeil wanted to be police officer, May said, and he was the pride of the neighborhood.
"That was his dream, something he really wanted to do," May said.
May and her other peers on the block all thought of Marcus McNeil as "our baby," she said. "And here you're grown and now you're protecting us," she said of her friend's grandson.
Marcus McNeil was patrolling with three other officers in the area of Cindy
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Officer Marcus McNeil was slain while on duty Oct. 13, 2017.
Relatives identified Darren Bridges, 30, pictured here after his arrest in 2016, as the man New Orleans police say fatally shot officer Marcus McNeil early Friday (Oct. 13) in New Orleans East.(Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office)
What was the Motive!! You know so tell us!!
The moments leading up to McNeil's death remain unclear. NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison, addressing reporters outside University Medical Center, said McNeil and three other officers were on patrol when they "saw something that aroused their suspicion" about 12:15 a.m. near Cindy Place and Interstate 10 Service Road. The officers encountered a man who opened fire, Harrison said, mortally wounding McNeil. At least one of the officers returned fire, hitting the suspect. Harrison said the suspect hid inside an apartment but later surrendered to authorities.
McNeil, a righteous man, is the type of black man black Americans should be celebrating but instead, they’re going to exalt his killer.
Sad
blue lives matter ping
New Orleans East was a swamp when I first moved there, and since I’ve moved back to my home state, N.O. East has become a cesspool.
It is quite a shame. RIP
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.