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.
Det. Kevin Canavan, 44 — who was honored a decade ago with a Medal of Valor as part of the team who dismantled a pipe bomb placed by a shooting suspect inside a Brooklyn warehouse — was promoted from second to first grade detective.
Canavan said his father, who died before he joined the NYPD, was a retired detective — and he’d always longed to follow in his footsteps.
“It feels like a significant achievement. It’s the highest rank that a detective can attain in the police department,” the Bomb Squad detective said. “I came on the police department wanting to be a detective. And it just doesn’t get any higher than this. And there’s very few that make it to the first-grade rank.”
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.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch commended the dedication and bravery of the promotees as she stood before them Friday.
“There is an incredible amount of talent, skill and heroism among this group, and I am truly proud of the work that you are doing,” Tisch said.
“Promotion in the NYPD is not a given. It is earned. It is earned through long hours, through difficult decisions, and through pressurized moments that test not only your skills but your character.”
