Hero cop wounded in a shootout with attempted murder suspect promoted at NYPD ceremony
A hero cop who was shot and wounded while hunting down an attempted murder suspect last year was among a group of brave officers promoted at an NYPD ceremony Friday.
Det. Matthew Mauro, 37, was bumped up to second grade detective after a wild incident in which he was shot in the foot after tracking the suspect to a New Jersey hotel in June.
“I’m just really grateful,” he said after the ceremony, in which he and a few dozen other NYPD members were formally raised in rank by Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“It makes all the hard work worth it.”
Mauro and other NYPD detectives had found suspect Karl Gregory, 46, at the Raritan Hotel in Woodbridge, NJ, on June 13 when he opened fire near an elevator shortly after midnight.
Cops exchanged gunfire and ultimately killed Gregory, who was wanted in connection to a June 7 shooting on 102nd Street and First Avenue.
During the attack, Woodbridge Police Department officer Justin Nerney was also wounded by a bullet in the back.
Mauro says he has since undergone surgeries with “a ton of support” from the NYPD.
“[I’m] really grateful to, you know, be here and come out of that,” he said. “I have a lot of support from the police department and my family, so it makes it a lot easier to deal with.”
Among other officers promoted at the event — which happened at the NYPD Police Academy in Queens — was Det. Christopher Welch, 51, who was involved with an undercover fentanyl bust in November 2022 that erupted into a shootout in the Inwood section of Manhattan.
Welch was promoted from third to second grade detective and was awarded a Combat Cross for his work during the sting, which resulted in an armed suspect being killed and another person taken into custody.
“It’s a rejoice moment for myself, my family, with all the hours that we put in as detective,” Welch said of the promotion.
At the event Friday, husband and wife cop duo Inspector Neil Zuber, 48, and Detective Leiddy Zuber, 41, were also both promoted together for the first time.
“I’m so proud to be able to share the day with [my wife],” said Neil Zuber, who was promoted from Deputy Inspector to Inspector.
“I was not expecting it, he was not expecting it, so it was just a big surprise for our family,” said Leiddy Zuber, who was promoted from third to second grade detective.
