PLAQUE DEDICATED AT SITE IN CENTRAL PARK
WHERE OFFICER STEVEN McDONALD WAS SHOT
TAGS :NYPD DETECTIVE STEVEN D. McDONALD,
PLAQUE DEDICATED 32 YEARS AFTER SHOOTING,
LIFE SAVED BY BELLEVUE TRAUMA SURGEONS, HIS
LIFE OF SERVICE AND EXAMPLE, NYC IN 1986
(Thursday
July 12, 2018 Central Park, NYC) For anyone On The Job 32 years ago, this day
is forever seared in our memories.
Certain events hold greater significance in our individual and institutional memories
than others for no reason beyond the shock value, the sheer murderous reckless
audacity that defines it. The commemoration of one such heinous crime is marked
on this day.
THE COP, THE PATIENT
The
trauma surgeons working in Bellevue Hospital 32 years ago on this day were all
well-seasoned, intimately familiar with the human wreckage and carnage hustled
into their Emergency Room on a ceaseless basis.
They were experienced in their particular art and science of working
aggressively on severely injured, wounded bodies in their efforts to stave off
death. Their bloodied patients came from motor vehicle accidents, construction
site injuries, all and any manor of chance in our City including violence;
these surgeons knew how to handle stab and gunshot wounds as well, and likely
better than, any other trauma teams in the country. They worked with a tunnel-visioned focus fully
engaged in the wrecked body that laid before them be that body Black or White,
Cop or criminal. Thirty-two years ago
today they received a mortally wounded 29-year-old NYPD
Officer who’d been shot at “point blank” range three times by a 15
year old robbery suspect in Central Park.
Officer
McDonald had immediately been transported to Metropolitan Hospital and quickly
the doctors there realized if McDonald was to have a chance at survival he
needed to be downtown in Bellevue, at the time the premier trauma center in the
City. He sustained grave injuries from the three bullets
that struck him; the first bullet hit him in the head, above his eye; the
second hit his throat and caused him to have a speaking disability; and the
third shattered his spine, paralyzing him from the neck down and leaving him
quadriplegic and in need of a ventilator. Yes, the Bellevue team saved the life
of the third generation NYPD Officer and throughout the years since until his death
in 2017 he dedicated his energies as a living example of forgiveness and grace,
of inherent spiritual strength, and as a staunch advocate for these very same characteristics. Despite all he’d endured and what he
physically lived with on a daily basis, Steven McDonald remained optimistic and
persistent.
OFFICER DOWN
It
was a relatively not unpleasant day for a NYC July, it was just another
Saturday for everyone. Working on an “Anti-Crime
Unit” detail, PO McDonald and his partner, Sgt. Peter King, approached three
young Black teens because they fit the basic descriptions of suspects in a rash
of Central Park muggings, robberies, and bike thefts. In plain cloths with his NYPD shield pinned
to his belt and a department radio in his hand he asked one of the three, Shavod
“Buddha” Jones, to allow him to see what was in the sock Jones was holding in
his left hand. In a nanosecond Jones
pulled a gun from the sock and shot McDonald three times. Before the gunshot echoes had faded McDonald
was in a fight for his life and within an hour the three young assailants were
in custody. McDonald’s life hung in the
balance as did the fate of Jones and his accomplices. Jones, as the shooter, had the most to lose. Though a 15-year-old juvenile he would be
charged with Capital Murder of a Police Officer. As his fate would play out he was sentenced
to 10 years for attempted murder serving just a little over eight and a half
years before being paroled in 1995.
Within four days of his release he was killed in a motorcycle accident
in The Bronx. Yes, to this day MOS working and retired still view his death as
divine retribution, as cosmic justice, Karma.
Yet McDonald never saw it that way and it is here, embedded in the Soul
within his paralyzed body that his truest Courage and Grace is most
evident. McDonald forgave Jones and had
even corresponded with him and his family for a brief time.
McDONALD AS AMBASSADOR
It
is likely that each of us at some time or another, a random idle moment, a dark
interlude on a subway that has for some reason stopped between stations, had reflective
thoughts about not only the nature of our Jobs, but the primal very tangible
realities of the life and death consequences that accompany each of us to work every
day. Perhaps in these idle moments we’ve
allowed our thoughts to run to the freely speculative, to engage in the deeply
personal exercise of what we are capable of and not capable of. Steven McDonald’s life has been the impetus
for shifting more than a handful of minds into that introspective mode. Could I forgive the villain that confined me
to a wheelchair for life? Would I be
able to carry on in the face of immeasurable adversity? Could my relationship, if any pre-existed,
with God remain intact after being dealt such a monumental assault of mind and Spirit,
of Body and Soul? We likely don’t share
these wanderings with others and, if we do, we often will distance our inner
truths to the more generic, removed hypotheticals so as not to reveal something
about ourselves.
Steven
McDonald became a global advocate for forgiveness and reconciliation. From appearances at a roll call in Brooklyn
North to Norther Ireland he traveled spreading his message. From South Africa to the South Bronx he met
with local, national and international figures, prominent leaders from the Pope
John Paul II to Nelson Mandela as well as Catholic Bishops and Cardinals and
clerics of all orientation the world over.
He became a truly global advocate for forgiveness and peace.
PLAQUE ON A ROCK
It
was a bit warmer at this small grass covered ridge in Central Park than it was
32 years ago today but, aside from the weather not much in the Park has
changed. What has changed has been
City-wide, a decades long concerted effort to recapture Our City from the depths
of crime and violence, of such a poor quality of life that life long residents
and businesses fled for greener suburban pastures for years. Our City in July 2018 opposed to 1986 in many
fundamental ways is so vastly different that the younger generations of NYPD
MOS hardly believe the tales they are told.
The
gathering here was small, mostly family, friends, colleagues, and of course the
useless politicos who just could not resist the photo op. The churning of the City could be heard; some
birds chirped in nearby trees, pigeons strutted around, and the omnipresent
wail of sirens drifted through the warm air.
It was a bit eerie standing at this site on this day filled with the
significance of this small plot of ground in our sprawling City. As Cardinal Dolan was finishing his
Invocation two squirrels could be seen just beyond the grass line above the
stone bearing the plaque. They both sat momentarily motionless perhaps somewhat
disoriented by a group of people who did not move; the cadence of our prayers
may have soothed them.
The
ceremony was brief, it felt more a formality than sacred devotion. It may be the final piece of our City to be
dedicated to one of our own who led a life of goodness and peaceful resolve
after being wounded so grievously by a young person he forgave. Steven taught all many lessons. He converted some of the most cynical and
jaded among us to at least believe that Faith was possible, that so much of our
lives is a matter of choice not circumstance.
We will forever honor his legacy and remember his courage and message of
forgiveness.
Rest
in peace, Steven. We are all confident
that you are resting easy in the Light and Warmth of the Lord.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/ny-metro-mcdonald-plaque-unveiled-20180712-story.html#
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/nypd-det-steven-mcdonald-of-malverne-through-the-years-1.12918016 Great Photos
Copyright The Brooding Cynyx 2018 © All Rights Reserved
Copyright Brooding Cynyc 2018 © All Rights Reserved
