Cardinal Christens Child of NYPD Detective

The 4-month-old daughter of NYPD Det. Kevin Brennan, a Mepham High School graduate, was christened by Cardinal Timothy Dolan at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday, according to an article in Newsday.

Brennan, 29, of Garden City Park, was wounded in January when a suspect he was chasing in Brooklyn shot him in the head.

Brennan's bundle of joy, Maeve, was baptized in a private ceremony that was attended by New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and about 35 family members and friends, Newsday said.

Before the baptism, Dolan told a packed cathedral at Sunday Mass that Brennan's recovery had inspired the city and that he was smiling throughout the ceremony, according to Newsday.

"It is wonderful to see Officer Brennan so happy and healthy," the cardinal said. "And today I have the honor to christen little Maeve Brennan."

Brennan, a six-year police veteran, was shot behind his right ear by Lois Ortiz, 21, in Bushwick on Jan. 31, police said.

Police said that Brennan and two other officers in plain clothes had responded to calls of shots being fired at the Bushwich Houses public housing project in Brooklyn, encountering three men – one of whom was Ortiz – running from the scene. Brennan followed Ortiz into an apartment building but the other officers had difficulty getting a door open that had closed behind him and found Brennan on the hallway floor when they entered.

Geoffrey Walter contributed to this report.