The son of storied fallen hero NYPD Det. Steven McDonald was promoted to a high-ranking role in the department’s public information branch Friday — capping a “bittersweet” month, he said.
Conor McDonald, 39, jumped rank from Captain of the department’s DCPI division to Deputy Inspector of it, the NYPD announced at a promotion ceremony.
“I’m very honored, and it’s very humbling… [I’m] just very blessed and honored and lucky,” McDonald said at One Police Plaza. “We work for the greatest police department in the world.”
His promotion came after a police academy in Queens was earlier this month named after his beloved dad — who was paralyzed by a teenage robbery suspect in Central Park in 1986.
“It’s been bittersweet. It’s an amazing honor having the academy named after my father. My father loved this job,” McDonald said. “We love this city, we love this department.”
“It was a tremendous month for my family,” he added. “I believe being a cop is one of the greatest callings, if not the greatest calling.”
After he was paralyzed at age 29, the elder McDonald lived for over three more decades in a wheelchair — even eventually forgiving the teen who nearly killed him, Shavod Jones.
He died in 2017 at the age of 59 after suffering a heart attack related to the gunshot wounds he suffered in 1986.
The 30-acre Police Academy campus in Queens now bears the name Det. Steven D. McDonald.
