Kind, calm and talented.
These were first the three words Tahera Begum chose to describe Didarul Islam Ratan, a 36-year-old Bangladeshi-origin officer of the New York Police Department (NYPD), who was shot in a high-rise office building in New York's Manhattan on Monday.
As news of his death reached Bangladesh, shock and grief descended throughout the country.
The anguish was more palpable in Moulvibazar's Kulaura, where Ratan had grown up.
"We learned on Monday from relatives in New York that my nephew Ratan had been shot dead by a gunman. We are in shock. His tragic death has devastated his parents, wife, sisters, and other relatives living in New York," his aunty Tahera told Dhaka Stream.
"I told them that he was a hero, and we admire him for putting his life on the line," said NYC Mayor Eric Adams.
Ratan's ancestral home was in the Barlekha Upazila.
His father Abdur Rob previously worked in Kuwait in the Middle East.
About two decades ago, the family permanently settled in Kulaura, where they built a home.
The house is now occupied by tenants.
Tahera further said in October 2009, Ratan had migrated to the US with his family.
He pursued higher education there and later joined the NYPD.
Before leaving the country, Ratan completed his SSC from Kulaura Nabin Chandra High School and HSC from Kulaura Degree College.
Nazmul Bari Sohel, a journalist and general secretary of the Upazila Press Club and a resident of Magura area, said, "Ratan was from my area. He was also a good athlete during his time in Bangladesh. He had been living in New York for around 16 years."
On Monday at 1am, Ratan's body was brought home from the hospital in the presence of family members.
Upon hearing the news of his son's death, his father Abdur Rob suffered a heart attack and had to be admitted to a hospital.
Didarul Islam, 36, killed in a mass shooting in a Manhattan skyscraper on Monday, was described by the city's mayor and police commissioner as a heroic Bangladeshi immigrant who saved lives while "putting his life on the line", reports Reuters.
A gunman opened fire on Monday inside a midtown office tower, killing four people, including Didarul, before fatally shooting himself, officials said.
"We lost four souls to another senseless act of gun violence, including a member of the New York City Police Department, Officer Islam," New York Mayor Eric Adams told reporters in a press conference late on Monday.
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