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| Senior Investigator Fred Ghussin
New York County District Attorney's Office
New York
End of Watch: Friday, June 22, 2007 Biographical Info
Age: 58
Tour of Duty: 16 years, 9 months
Badge Number: 164 Incident Details
Cause of Death: 9/11 related illness
Date of Incident: Tuesday, September 11, 2001
Weapon Used: Aircraft; Passenger jet
Suspect Info: 19 suicide attackers Senior Investigator Ghussin died of cancer which he contracted after inhaling toxic chemicals and materials while working at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attack of 9/11.
Following the attack, Investigator Ghussin worked countless hours on the investigation. He fell ill in 2005 and was forced to retire on disability, after it was deemed that his illness was related to his work at Ground Zero.
During service with the New York County District Attorney's Office, Investigator Ghussin working on many high profile cases including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Investigator Ghussin had served with the New York County District Attorney's Office for 16 1/2 years and had previously served with the Israeli Police Force and the New York City Department of Investigation. He is survived by his wife and four children.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, seventy-two officers from a total of eight local, state, and federal agencies were killed when terrorist hijackers working for the al Qaeda terrorist network, headed by Osama bin Laden, crashed two of four hijacked planes into the World Trade Center towers in New York City. After the impact of the first plane, putting the safety of others before their own, law enforcement officers along with fire and EMS personnel, rushed to the burning Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to aid the victims and lead them to safety. Due to their quick actions, it is estimated that over 25,000 people were saved.
As the evacuation continued, the first tower unexpectedly collapsed due as a result of the intense fire caused by the impact. The second tower collapsed a short time later. 71 law enforcement officers, 343 members of the New York City Fire Department and over 2,800 civilians were killed at the World Trade Center site.
A third hijacked plane crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania when the passengers attempted to re-take control of the plane. One law enforcement officer, who was a passenger on the plane, was killed in that crash.
The fourth hijacked plane was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, killing almost 200 military and civilian personnel. No law enforcement officers were killed at the Pentagon.
The terrorist attacks resulted in the declaration of war against the Taliban regime, the illegal rulers of Afghanistan, and the al Qaeda terrorist network which also was based in Afghanistan.
On September 9, 2005, all of the public safety officers killed on September 11, 2001, were posthumously awarded the 9/11 Heroes Medal of Valor by President George W. Bush.
The contamination in the air at the World Trade Center site caused many rescue personnel to become extremely ill, and eventually led to the death of several rescue workers.
Please click here to visit the memorials of all of the law enforcement officers killed in this terrorist attack. | |
