Super Cop: NYPD Rookie Officer Sumit Sulan Hailed for Gunning Down Cop Killer in Harlem Shootout

It was only nine months since Sumit Sulan joined the NYPD, but his short experience in the police force didn’t stop the Indian American “super rookie cop” springing to action when two of his partners got shot in the line of duty. Sulan, 27, shot and wounded Lawshawn McNeil, 47, the Harlem, New York man who killed 22-year-old rookie cop Jason Rivera and seriously injured 27-year-old his partner Wilbert Mora, who died four days later.

The New York Daily News reported that McNeil died at Harlem Hospital on Jan. 24 afternoon.

Sulan, who is being hailed as a hero, has been on the job since April and at Harlem’s 32nd Precinct for two months. The young cop is reportedly trying to come to terms with the events of Jan. 21. “His brain is stuck on the situation,” his mother Dalvir Sulan, 60, told The New York Post. “I’m proud. Everyone say he did good,” she said. “I feel bad for the other [officer],” she told NYPost from her Queens, New York home. “He died. We really feel bad. We’re sorry. We’re hurt. The other guy is critical, and we’re hurt.” 

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On Jan. 21, Sulan, Rivera and Mora were dispatched to McNeil’s residence in Harlem after receiving a report of domestic violence. The New York Daily News reported that McNeil was arguing with his mom about the lack of vegan food available in the apartment. During the deadly shootout that ensued, McNeil shot two officers who entered the home with his illegal Glock 45. Sulan retaliated by firing back at McNeil, who was out on probation on a 2003 felony narcotics charge in New York City. He also has four arrests in other states, The New York Post reported. 

The Indo-Asian News Service reported that Sulan’s family had immigrated from India about 15 years ago. Before joining the NYPD, Sulan worked for the city as a taxi and limousine inspector, the IANS report said.