A New York Police Department detective serving with the Air National Guard was among the six American troops killed in a suicide bombing near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan Monday.
Fox 5 News reported that Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Joseph Lemm, a 15-year NYPD veteran, was one of the six U.S. soldiers killed in the blast, which occurred Monday. The victims were part of a joint NATO-Afghan patrol that was moving through a village near the airfield, the largest U.S. military facility in Afghanistan, when an attacker drove a motorcycle strapped with explosives into the unit.
"Detective Joseph Lemm epitomized the selflessness we can only strive for: putting his country and city first," New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said in a statement Monday. "Tonight, we grieve and we remember this selfless public servant who dedicated his life to protecting others."
Lemm, who worked in the Bronx Warrant Squad, served two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq.
Three individuals, including two U.S. troops, were also wounded in the suicide attack Monday for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility. It represented the deadliest attack on foreign troops since August.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who visited Afghanistan just last week, labeled the attack "tragic" in a statement and offered his sympathies to loved ones of those killed.
Lemm is survived by his wife and two children.