Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey, Mayor Jerramiah Healy and other police officials gathered at a press conference Monday afternoon to announce that Jersey City Officer Marc DiNardo, who was critically wounded in a shootout on Reed Street with two robbery suspects on Thursday last week, was expected to meet an “imminent” death. DiNardo, 37, suffered a gunshot wound to the face.
“It is now a stark reality that the miracle that we were so badly seeking will not come to pass,” said Comey. He did not take any questions but asked the media to respect the privacy of the DiNardo family in the last hours of his life.
The press conference, which took place near Jersey City Medical Center, where DiNardo had been treated, came about after rumors circulated on the internet that DiNardo had passed away on Sunday evening.
Police Officer Melissa Bartholomew, a friend of the DiNardo family, read a statement from the family thanking the Police Department and Jersey City residents for their “prayers and overwhleming support.”
Joseph Scott, the president of the Jersey City Medical Center, issued a statement saying all the hospital’s employees were in “deepest prayer and sorrow” and thanked the family for authorizing the donation of DiNardo’s organs.
Scott also offered an update on the other seriously wounded officer, Police Officer Michael Camacho, 25, saying his condition was upgraded from critical to serious but guarded condition and is out of Intensive Care. Camacho suffered a wound to the neck.
Before the end of the press conference, Mayor Jerramiah Healy said both DiNardo and Camacho have been promoted to the rank of detective.
Standing in the background during the press conference was P.O. Jon-Paul Sileski, a five-year veteran who worked with DiNardo, who trained Sileski when he was a rookie officer.
“No one can say a bad thing about Marc; he was a nice guy,” Sileski said. “I feel for his family. It makes you want to lose it, makes you want to cry.”
DiNardo, the son of a retired Jersey City police officer, is leaving behind his wife Mary and three children, ages 4, 3, and 1. He was expected to donate his organs.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the JCPOBA, Marc Anthony DiNardo Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 17395, Jersey City, NJ 07307. Also the Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association and New Jersey Blood Services will sponsor a blood drive in honor of DiNardo on July 22 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Jersey City OEM headquarters at 715 Summit Avenue in Jersey City. – Ricardo Kaulessar
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