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Two New York City police officers are shot and killed in a brazen ambush in Brooklyn Two New York City police officers are shot and killed in a brazen ambush in Brooklyn
(35 minutes later)
Two uniformed New York police officers were shot and killed by a suspect in a brazen ambush while they sat in their patrol car Saturday afternoon, according to police. A gunman shot and killed two New York City police officers before taking his own life in a brazen ambush that played out on a quiet Brooklyn street corner Saturday afternoon, New York police said.
Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot in the head and rushed to Brooklyn’s Woodhull Medical Center, where they were later pronounced dead, according to New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, who spoke at a news conference Saturday evening. Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot at point-blank range while sitting beside one another in a police car in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, police said.
After the shooting, the suspect, who Bratton identified as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, ran up the street and was pursued by other officers into the subway station, where he was found with a gunshot wound that appeared to be self-inflicted, according to the New York Times. He was declared dead at a nearby hospital, the paper reported. “It’s clear that this was an assassination,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference Saturday night. “These officers were shot execution-style, a particularly despicable act that goes to the heart of our society and our democracy.
The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. outside of the Tompkins Houses, near Myrtle and Tompkins avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to the Daily News. Both officers were participating in an anti-terrorism drill and were shot at point-blank range by the gunman, who approached their marked vehicle from the passenger side and fired through the front passenger side window, according to police. “It is an attack on all of us,” he added.
Ramos and Liu, who were shot in the head, were rushed to Brooklyn’s Woodhull Medical Center, where they were later pronounced dead, according to New York Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, who also spoke the Saturday evening news conference.
Just three hours before the shootings, the gunman — identified by police as 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley — declared his intention on his Instagram account to kill police officers as retribution for the recent police killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
Before he made his way to Brooklyn on Saturday morning, police said Brinsley shot his former girlfriend about 5:45 a.m. in Ownings Mill, Md., about 15 miles outside of Baltimore. Baltimore authorities sent out a “warning flier” that was received by New York authorities, but it arrived minutes too late, Bratton said.
“Tragically, this was at the same time our officers were being murdered by Brinsley,” he said. “It was a mindless assassination without warning.”
Brinsley’s girlfriend, identified Saturday only as a 29-year-old woman, was shot in the stomach and underwent surgery, according to a New York Daily News article. She was expected to recover.
“I’m putting Wings on Pigs Today,” Brinsley wrote on his Instagram account beneath a photo of a silver-colored semiautomatic pistol and a pair of blood-stained camouflage pants. “They TAKE 1 Of Ours . . . Lets Take 2 of Theirs.” The Instagram photos use hashtags for Brown and Garner and appear to indicate that the shootings were an act of revenge.
Brinsley stole the woman’s phone after the shooting before traveling to New York. At some point along the way, he posted a menacing update on Facebook.
“I Always Wanted To Be Known For Doing Something Right . . . But My Past Is Stalking Me and My Present Is Haunting Me,” it read.
Bratton said investigators were looking into all of Brinsley’s social media accounts in an attempt to unravel the shooter’s motivations.
“Some of the postings, which I understand are out there, would seem to indicate he had a very strong bias against police officers,” he said.
Bratton said investigators have no reason to believe Brinsley has any connection to terrorist groups.
“We’re not seeing a connectivity to any organized entity at this time,” he noted.
About 3 p.m., police said, Brinsley approached the officers’ marked NYPD patrol car outside the Tompkins Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant and began firing into the front passenger-side window, striking both officers in the head.
“The perp came out of the houses, walked up behind the car and lit them up,” a police official told the Daily News.“The perp came out of the houses, walked up behind the car and lit them up,” a police official told the Daily News.
A law enforcement official said the gunman started “pumping bullets” into the officer’s car, the Post reported.A law enforcement official said the gunman started “pumping bullets” into the officer’s car, the Post reported.
“It’s an execution,” a separate law enforcement source told the Post.“It’s an execution,” a separate law enforcement source told the Post.
Several hours before the shooting, a man believed to be the gunman wrote: “I’m putting wings on pigs today” on his Instagram page, the Post reported. The images showed a silver-colored handgun with wooden grips and a pair of camouflage pants and blue tennis shoes that appear to match those worn by the suspect, based on images of the suspect that show him being transported to the hospital. The Instagram photos use hashtags for Michael Brown and Eric Garner and appear to indicate that the shootings were an act of revenge. After the shooting, Brinsley ran up the street and was pursued by other officers into a subway station, where he was found with a gunshot wound that appeared to be self-inflicted, police said. He was declared dead at a nearby hospital, police said.
“They Take 1 Of Ours … Let’s Take 2 of Theirs,” the post said, before adding, “This May Be My Final Post.” The shooting has heightened tensions in a city already roiled by demonstrations against police brutality in the wake of recent killings of unarmed black men by white police officers.
Through his National Action Network, the Rev. Al Sharpton released a statement several hours after the shooting condemning the use of violence as a means of affecting change.Through his National Action Network, the Rev. Al Sharpton released a statement several hours after the shooting condemning the use of violence as a means of affecting change.
“I have spoken to the Garner family and we are outraged by the early reports of the police killed in Brooklyn today,” Sharpton said the statement. “Any use of the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, in connection with any violence or killing of police, is reprehensible and against the pursuit of justice in both cases.”“I have spoken to the Garner family and we are outraged by the early reports of the police killed in Brooklyn today,” Sharpton said the statement. “Any use of the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, in connection with any violence or killing of police, is reprehensible and against the pursuit of justice in both cases.”