{"id":272885,"date":"2026-06-20T23:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T23:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/272885\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T23:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T23:08:29","slug":"exclusive-new-documentary-honors-paralyzed-nypd-hero-steven-mcdonald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/272885\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | New documentary honors paralyzed NYPD hero Steven McDonald –"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly a decade after his death, paralyzed NYPD hero Steven McDonald \u2014 who forgave the teenage gunman who put him in a wheelchair<\/a> \u2014 is the subject of a new documentary that traces his extraordinary journey from Central Park shooting victim to international symbol of forgiveness and peace.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaint of the City\u201d traces McDonald\u2019s rehabilitation<\/a> in Denver, his pilgrimage to Lourdes, France \u2014 where he initially prayed for a cure \u2014 and his trip to Northern Ireland, where he consoled victims of the 1998 Omagh car bombing that killed 29 people and later participated in peace talks.<\/p>\n

The 96-minute film features interviews with the brother of the 15-year-old who shot McDonald and the late officer\u2019s widow and son, who is now an NYPD captain.<\/p>\n

Steven McDonald was shot by a teenager while patrolling Central Park in 1986. Courtesy of the McDonald Family<\/p>\n

McDonald was undercover and questioning Shavod Jones in connection with a rash of bicycle thefts in the park when the teen pulled out a gun and shot him three times, hitting his spine and paralyzing him from the neck down, leaving him dependent on a ventilator.<\/p>\n

The following year, McDonald forgave the teenager in a letter read by his wife.<\/p>\n

Jones went to prison for nearly nine years for attempted murder before he was released in 1995. <\/p>\n

He died three days later in a crash while riding on the backseat of a friend\u2019s motorcycle in East Harlem.<\/p>\n

McDonald died on Jan. 10, 2017, at the age of 59 after a heart attack.<\/p>\n

Former Emmy Award-winning reporter Mary Murphy and retired Drug Enforcement Administration\u00a0special agent Erin Mulvey wrote, directed and produced the film, which questions why the slain cop isn\u2019t up for sainthood.<\/p>\n

McDonald was paralyzed from the neck down and died in 2017. Courtesy of the McDonald Family<\/p>\n

Formal canonization in the Catholic Church typically requires two medical miracles.<\/p>\n

But Murphy pointed out that one of the qualities that is supposed to be present \u201cis heroic virtue, and I don\u2019t think I know anyone else that I\u2019ve met in my life that exemplifies that more than Steven McDonald.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost 10 years since Steven\u2019s death<\/a>, and we don\u2019t hear about any cause for sainthood,\u201d Murphy told The Post. \u201cWe\u2019re questioning that. And, you know, we wanted to look into what made him so holy, and what made him so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0The film, \u201cisn\u2019t just about what happened\u201d to McDonald, Mulvey added.<\/p>\n

Conor McDonald followed in his father\u2019s footsteps and became an NYPD officer. Courtesy of the McDonald Family<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about what he chose to do with it, which is a message that resonates with us all,\u201d said Mulvey, who was touched by McDonald\u2019s story because of her own husband\u2019s death as a result of 9\/11 illness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watching the movie brought the cop\u2019s widow Patricia McDonald to tears even though she lived through her husband\u2019s ordeal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was praying that he would get up out of that chair, but just watching from the beginning til the end was just, it made me cry, you know, just seeing how young we were, and everything that we went through,\u201d Patricia McDonald told The Post, while weeping.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The documentary \u201cSaint of the City\u201d traces McDonald\u2019s life after he was injured. Courtesy of the McDonald Family<\/p>\n

\u201cBut also with that said, all the people that came into our lives that helped us and inspired us and were there with us \u2026 and then when Steven passed, just seeing how the city came to say goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n

At his funeral at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral, the police officer\u2019s son, Conor McDonald, a member of the NYPD\u2019s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information\u2019s office, called his father \u201cour saint.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad always lived a faithful life in the church and he exemplified that after he got shot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McDonald famously forgave Shavod Jones, the teen who shot him. Courtesy of the McDonald Family<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, in regards to sainthood, I just believe in the grace of God<\/a>,\u201d his son said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people are inspired to create a cause, my dad\u2019s name will happen,\u201d Conor McDonald said. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t, it doesn\u2019t. But I think my mother knows, and I know, and our family and friends know, that my dad lived the life of a saint.\u201d<\/p>\n

The movie, which was funded in part through the New York City Police Foundation, the Detectives Endowment Association, the Police Athletic League and Tunnel to Towers Foundation, has not been slated for a wide release. There will be an invitation-only screening in July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly a decade after his death, paralyzed NYPD hero Steven McDonald \u2014 who forgave the teenage gunman who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4709,57,9,24,55,54,56,103,242,54961,58],"class_list":["post-272885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-central-park","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-nypd","tag-police-shootings","tag-steven-mcdonald","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}