10 Years On, Slain Officer Honored

By COLlive reporter

Family, friends, and members of the NYPD attended a midnight vigil to mark the 10th anniversary of the murder of Detective Russel Timoshenko who was shot on July 9, 2007, and died five days later.

Timoshenko was a 23-year-old NYPD police officer who was shot after pulling over a stolen BMW automobile in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood.

Over 30,000 people attended Timoshenko’s funeral, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered the eulogy, praising the fallen officer, and called him a hero.

Ten years after his murder, members of the NYPD’s top brass paid tribute to Timoshenko, praising his bravery, and honoring his parents Leonid and Tatyana Timoshenko, who tragically lost their only child in the horrific shooting.

Police Commissioner James O’Neill and CO Deputy Inspector Norman Grandstaff paid tribute to the fallen detective and his family.

“There is a bronze plaque on the wall of the 71st Precinct dedicated to Russel,” Deputy Inspector Grandstaff said. “Every police officer sees it every day when he walks in and when he leaves…they think about Russel every day.”

Mrs. Timoshenko, Russel’s mother, spoke as well, giving a heartfelt thank you to the Police Department for keeping her son’s memory alive.

Mrs. Devorah Halberstam, community activist and consultant to the NYPD, was in attendance at the midnight vigil.

“Ten years ago, when Russel was shot, I visited him in the hospital as he was dying to support his heartbroken mother Tatiana and family,” Halberstam said. “I attended his funeral, and since then I have attended the yearly vigil at the hour he was killed on Rogers and Lefferts. We will never forget Russel and his bravery,” she said.

Also in attendance were Inspectors Frank Vega, Mark DePaulo, and Jack Lewis, 71 Precinct officer Pat Lynch, Rabbis Chanina Sperlin and Eli Cohen of the CHJCC, and Pini Ringel representing the office of Mayor Bill DeBlasio.