The DEA Honor Roll

Officer Omar J. Edwards, 25, who was assigned to patrol housing projects and was shot in the arm and chest after a team of three other plainclothes officers in a car saw him chasing a man on East 125^th Street between First and Second Avenues with his gun drawn.

Officer Edwards, who was in plainclothes, had just finished his shift and was returning to his personal vehicle when he observed a man going through the vehicle and attempted to arrest him.  The man broke free and fled on foot as Officer Edward chased him with his gun drawn.  Three officers driving by observed Officer Edwards chasing the suspect and made a U-turn to follow them.  One of the officers exited the patrol car and opened fire, striking Officer Edwards.

Officer Edwards, a recently married father of two from Brooklyn, was taken to Harlem Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead at 11:21 p.m.  He was posthumously promoted to Detective.  Since the incident, the Officer who made the fatal error of shooting at Edwards has been described as emotionally “devastated.”