NYPD Training Academy to be renamed for Det. Steven McDonald, who famously forgave teen shooter who paralyzed him
The New York City Police Academy in College Point, Queens, will be renamed after Det. Steven McDonald, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced on Monday.
McDonald was shot on the job and became a quadriplegic in 1986 before dying in 2017. For decades he inspired others with his act of forgiveness of the 15-year-old who pulled the trigger.
Steven McDonald was all about character
Tisch released a statement, saying, in part, "We remember not only the courage that he showed after his life was changed unimaginably, but the character Det. McDonald demonstrated through his refusal to be defined by bitterness, and his commitment to dignity and forgiveness."
Speaking to recruits at the academy, McDonald's wife and son said they were humbled and speechless when Tisch told them about plans to rename the campus after him.
"This is a calling. This is a tough job, but it's a great job," said Capt. Conor McDonald, who followed in his father's footsteps by joining the NYPD. "He was the living example of the men and women who were killed before and after him in the New York City Police Department."
The shooting of Steven McDonald
On July 12, 1986, Steven McDonald, then a rookie officer, was shot three times by a teen robbery suspect in Central Park. One of the bullets severed his spine, leaving him paralyzed on a respirator. He was newly married at the time and his wife was pregnant, but it was what he did for the teenaged gunman after his son's birth that would shape his legacy.
"Had I sought revenge, I would've been a dead man already," Steven McDonald said in the years following the shooting.
"He knew that he had to forgive the young boy in order for him to be a husband and father," Patti Ann McDonald said.
Message of forgiveness
Steven McDonald took that message of forgiveness to precincts, parades and schools for decades, before dying in 2017 at the age of 59.
"Steven, that's why he chose the profession of being a police officer was to help people," Patti Ann McDonald said.
The family has everyday reminders of Steven, including Conor McDonald using his father's wedding ring.
"A couple words to personify the McDonald name is perseverance, compassion, hopeful," Conor McDonald said.
Soon, all who train at the academy will have one, too, when they see his name on the building. It will officially be renamed on July 16, 42 years to the day Steven McDonald joined.
