Two NYPD Policemen Shot Dead As They Sat in Their Car Eating Lunch

[DonLever]

From CNN:

New York (CNN) -- Officer Rafael Ramos sat in the driver's seat. Officer Wenjian Liu was at his side.

The two cops weren't at their usual precinct -- normally, the pair was assigned to downtown Brooklyn, but they were working a "critical response" detail in an area with higher crime, police said.

That's where they were slain, ambush-style -- Saturday afternoon as they sat in their patrol car, New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said at an evening news conference.

The gunman approached the passenger side of the patrol car and took a shooting stance, witnesses told police. He opened fire several times, striking both officers in the head, Bratton said.

They were "shot and killed with no warning, no provocation," Bratton told reporters. "They were quite simply, assassinated."

The gunman was found dead in a nearby subway station from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The thin blue line

The families of the fallen officers rushed to Woodhull Medical Center on Saturday, as dozens of their comrades gathered in a show of support.

New York Police Officer Wenjian Liu

Ramos had just turned 40 this month; Liu got married two months ago.

Both dreamed of being police officers, Bratton said.

"One of the unfortunate realities of policing is that you put that blue uniform on and you become part of the thin blue line between us and anarchy," Bratton said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Bratton met with the families of the victims. De Blasio said that Ramos' 13-year-old son couldn't comprehend what had happened to his father.

"When a police officer is murdered, it tears at the foundation of our society," the mayor said. "It is an attack on the very concept of decency".

Rafael Ramos, age 40

Wenjian Liu, age 32

[DonLever]

From DailyMail UK:

By Sebastien Malo and Ellen Wulfhorst

NEW YORK, Dec 20 (Reuters) - A gunman ambushed and fatally shot two New York City police officers on Saturday and then killed himself, police said, and a social media post indicated it may have been in revenge for the police chokehold death of an unarmed black man.

If the killings do turn out to have been motivated by the death of Eric Garner, they could inflame tension over race and law enforcement that have dogged New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, sparked protests around the country and drawn in President Barack Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder.

The officers were killed without warning and at close range as they sat in their squad car in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Police Commissioner William Bratton told a news conference, flanked by de Blasio.

"Although we're still learning the details, it's clear that this was an assassination, that these officers were shot execution style," said de Blasio.

New York police have come under intense pressure in recent weeks. Protests erupted after a grand jury declined this month to charge a white police officer involved in Garner's chokehold death during an arrest attempt in July in Staten Island borough.

Bratton identified the gunman in Saturday's shooting as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, and said he took a shooter's stance on the passenger side of the squad car, opening fire with a silver semi-automatic handgun. He then fled into a nearby subway station and died there from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Bratton said.

The police chief identified the slain officers as Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32. Liu had been married for two months. Ramos had a 13-year-old son.

The killings were the first time New York City police officers have been killed by gunfire since 2011 and sparked bitter anger among some police against de Blasio, who they see as not supportive enough in the face of public anger. The mayor has had a prickly relationship with law enforcement as he tries to balance regard for civil liberties with police concerns.

Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association that is the country's largest municipal police union, said, "There's blood on many hands tonight."

"Those that incited violence on the street under the guise of protest, that tried to tear down what New York City police officers did every day," Lynch told a news conference. "That blood on the hands starts on the steps of City Hall in the office of the mayor."

Demonstrations over Garner's death came on top of protests around the country over another grand jury's decision in November not to indict a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.

Obama was briefed on the killings while on vacation in Hawaii. He later said in a statement he unconditionally condemned the shootings, adding that police officers "deserve our respect and gratitude every single day."

INSTAGRAM POSTING

An online posting suggested a link between Brinsley, who was black, and anger over the death of Garner.

Screenshots taken by various media showed an Instagram account attributed to Brinsley with a picture of a man with wire-rimmed glasses and a separate picture of a silver pistol.

The account, using the slang insult pig for police, said: "I'm Putting Wings On Pigs Today. They Take 1 Of Ours ... Let's Take 2 of Theirs."

The post included hashtags for Eric Garner and for Michael Brown, the teenager who was shot dead in August in Ferguson.

Instagram said the account attributed to Brinsley had been deleted.

Bratton was asked whether there was a link between Brinsley and the weeks of protests over law enforcement, and said this was under investigation. He added:

"There has been ... a very strong anti-police, anti-criminal justice system, anti-societal set of initiatives under way and one of the unfortunate aspects sometimes is some people get caught up in these and go in directions they should not."

He said police would investigate whether Brinsley had been part of protests in New York and in Atlanta, his last place of residence, over the Brown and Garner killings.

DIFFERENCE OVER TIMING

Brinsley had shot and seriously wounded his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore County, Maryland, early on Saturday before traveling to Brooklyn, where he had connections, Bratton said.

He said Baltimore authorities, who had responded to that shooting, warned the NYPD at 2:45 p.m. that it should be on the lookout for Brinsley. That was right around the time the shooting of the two NYPD officers took place.

But Baltimore County Police gave a slightly different timeline, raising questions about how soon in advance the NYPD was alerted.

Baltimore County Police said in a statement its investigators tracked Brinsley's phone and determined he was in Brooklyn, and that at 2:10 p.m. they called police there to say he was in the area, warning them about the threats Brinsley had made on Instagram.

DE BLASIO AND POLICE

The Rev. Al Sharpton, a New York civil rights leader who has supported the families of Brown and Garner, said he was outraged by the officers' killings, if they were related to the men's deaths. Civil rights leaders in Los Angeles and Brown's family also condemned the shootings.

De Blasio faced a fresh tide of anger in the city, this time from some of New York's police force.

A Democrat who took office this year promising strong support for civil liberties in the city, he voiced support for protesters' rights after the Garner case and has agreed with activists that police need retraining, although he has not stepped away from New York's policy of cracking down on low-level offenses in an effort to stop more serious crimes.

The Sergeants Benevolent Association, which comprises about 12,000 retired and active New York police sergeants. "The blood of 2 executed police officers is on the hands of Mayor de Blasio," the group said in a tweet.

Police set up a perimeter for several blocks around the street corner where the shooting occurred. Only residents were allowed to cross the police line.

John Jeronimo, a 28-year-old photographer who lives in public housing nearby, predicted the neighborhood would change as more police were sent into the area.

"A lot more people are going to get checked, stopped, pulled over. From here on now it's going to be more hectic," he said.

As ambulances carrying the officers' bodies left Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn, police and firefighters blocked traffic along the motorcade route with squad cars and fire trucks.

Hundreds of police and firefighters stood silently at attention, saluting as the ambulances drove by on their way to the city medical examiner's office. (Reporting by Ian Simpson and Mohammad Zargham in Washington, Julia Edwards in Honolulu, Jonathan Allen and Carlo Alegri in New York, Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Edwin Chan in San Francisco; Writing by Ian Simpson; Editing by Frances Kerry, Robert Birsel)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-2882192/Two-New-York-police-officers-killed-gunman-dead-NYT.html#ixzz3MVceiJTl
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[desiboynux4lifee*******]

"hands up don't shoot?"

[Monteeun]

THis is one of those terrible realities. When one side pushes hard one way, the other side will push back. Regardless whether it was an appropriate target or not. I always said that if you keep ignoring the problem...something terrible like this would happen. The two officers were probably innocent, but when your colleagues keep doing crazy stuff without consequences...well.

I wish things would've went down better. I just hope this wasn't related to any of that.

[Mike Vanderhoek]

THis is one of those terrible realities. When one side pushes hard one way, the other side will push back. Regardless whether it was an appropriate target or not. I always said that if you keep ignoring the problem...something terrible like this would happen. The two officers were probably innocent, but when your colleagues keep doing crazy stuff without consequences...well.

I wish things would've went down better. I just hope this wasn't related to any of that.

What exactly is the problem ? it's shrouded in politics, racism, a lack of common sense and intelligence.

It is very easy for people to blame race, to blame " bad " cops. This is absolutely devastating news to hear, I cannot even imagine what those close to the three deceased individuals are going through.

Perhaps the bigger " problem " this is stemming from is people being uneducated, armed, suffering mental illness, and feeling their voices are not heard or that violence is the easier way out.

[Armada]

Anyone who supports the slaying of these two officers are disgusting

[5Fivehole0]

While I digress and agree that this is a sad day.

The police force is bringing this upon themselves with constant brutality and murders. More Americans have officially been killed by Police than Terrorists.

Fact: 5,000 civilians have been killed by the police since 9/11 and you are 29 times more likely to be killed by a cop in the States than a terrorist.

[Mr. Ambien]

Must have been one of those "gentle giants" I keep hearing about.

[Denguin]

While I digress and agree that this is a sad day.

The police force is bringing this upon themselves with constant brutality and murders. More Americans have officially been killed by Police than Terrorists.

Fact: 5,000 civilians have been killed by the police since 9/11 and you are 29 times more likely to be killed by a cop in the States than a terrorist.

That's like saying it's many, many times more likely to die from a car accident than a meteor falling from the sky. Pointless "fact".

[nux4lyfe]

Two wrongs make a right I guess?

Just don't understand how someone could live with themselves after killing someone, No matter what the situation was/is..straight up cowardly.

[Mr. Ambien]

Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, shot two cops dead as they sat in a patrol car in Bedford-Stuyvesant to avenge the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. He also shot his former girlfriend at her home in the Baltimore area on Saturday morning, police said. Law enforcement sources said the NYPD has dispatched investigators to Baltimore to probe Brinsley's past and suspected involvement with the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang.

The cold-blooded cop-hater who gunned down two police officers in Brooklyn on Saturday is suspected of being a member of a notorious prison gang that has declared open season on the NYPD.

Detectives were headed to Baltimore on Saturday night to probe Ismaaiyl Brinsley’s ties to the Black Guerrilla Family, sources told the Daily News.

One source said Baltimore police were already investigating Brinsley’s connection to the gang, which started in California’s San Quentin Prison in the 1960s by Black Panther member George Jackson.

“BGF has been talking about getting back at cops for Eric Garner and Ferguson,” a source told The News, citing intelligence intercepted in Baltimore area prisons.

Brinsley boasted on social media about wanting to kill cops hours before ambushing two police officers on Saturday afternoon as they sat in their patrol car outside the Tompkins Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“I’m putting wings on pigs today,” he posted on Instagram, referencing the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in Staten Island.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/killer-nypd-slays-ran-black-guerrilla-family-article-1.2052069#bmb=1

There must be some mistake here, he must have had his hands up or couldn't breathe.

But anyways, protesters chanted wanting dead cops, now they got it. Congrats.

Now's the perfect time for white liberals and liberal media who incited these people to call for more gun control.

[TheXFactor]

What i'm getting from this is a black person (Brisnley) was angry that a WHITE cop killed another black person (Garner).... so Brinsley retaliates by killing 2 cops with the surnames "Ramos" and "Liu"? Did this guy realize that in trying to avenge a possible hate crime between a white and a black he may have also dragged in the other minorities?

This was an absolutely stupid reason to kill 2 cops that, as far as I know, had nothing to do with the prior incident. On the contrary the cops might become even more violent and antsy towards civilians due to greater fear of safety. Racist and bigot cops have just given themselves 1 more reason to shoot first, ask questions later.

Right now there's way too many problems with contradicting solutions for the Mayor to handle alone.

[Lancaster]

The cops aren't black... so they technically won't be considered race related. Most likely all those "civil rights activists" like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson won't be mentioning anything about this. I highly doubt Obama would say anything about this either.

God forbid if it were 2 black cops that got shot. You'll be hearing from Obama how "it could have been him", lol.

[GLASSJAW]

What i'm getting from this is a black person (Brisnley) was angry that a WHITE cop killed another black person (Garner).... so Brinsley retaliates by killing 2 cops with the surnames "Ramos" and "Liu"? Did this guy realize that in trying to avenge a possible hate crime between a white and a black he may have also dragged in the other minorities?

This was an absolutely stupid reason to kill 2 cops that, as far as I know, had nothing to do with the prior incident. On the contrary the cops might become even more violent and antsy towards civilians due to greater fear of safety. Racist and bigot cops have just given themselves 1 more reason to shoot first, ask questions later.

Right now there's way too many problems with contradicting solutions for the Mayor to handle alone.

nowhere does he say he's looking to kill white people. he just wanted to kill some cops

[TheMohammadman]

Anyone who supports the slaying of these two officers are disgusting

Agreed

[TheXFactor]

nowhere does he say he's looking to kill white people. he just wanted to kill some cops

I'm perfectly aware of that. I meant that with the results of the situation it could easily be turned into a racial issue for the other minorities. A lot of people will see the death of Garner as a white cop killing a black person which leads to a black killing a hispanic and an asian.

White vs. black can potentially become white vs. black vs. hispanic vs. asian. Classic case of racial dilemma dragging everyone into it, not to mention the whole cops vs. civilians fiasco that's been going on for I don't even know how long now anymore.

[freebuddy]

The cops aren't black... so they technically won't be considered race related. Most likely all those "civil rights activists" like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson won't be mentioning anything about this. I highly doubt Obama would say anything about this either.

God forbid if it were 2 black cops that got shot. You'll be hearing from Obama how "it could have been him", lol.

"I have spoken to the Garner family and we are outraged by the early reports of the police killed in Brooklyn today," civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton said in a 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."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/20/2-nypd-cops-shot-in-car-critically-injured/

[freebuddy]

While I digress and agree that this is a sad day.

The police force is bringing this upon themselves with constant brutality and murders. More Americans have officially been killed by Police than Terrorists.

Fact: 5,000 civilians have been killed by the police since 9/11 and you are 29 times more likely to be killed by a cop in the States than a terrorist.

Yes. I guess when Mr. A started his "US police at it again" thread on this board, he supported the cops shooting civilians.

[Mustapha]

Killing two officers in cold blood isn't right, but you can bet that when whoever is responsible is arrested, they will be tried and convicted.

The same can't be said for the persons responsible for holding down Eric Garner and choking him to death.

Actions like this are to be expected when those in charge of enforcing the law decide to let police officers off when they in fact committed a homicide.

[freebuddy]

nowhere does he say he's looking to kill white people. he just wanted to kill some cops

Yes, he shot his girlfriend in Baltimore too. If the cops who were shot had been black, Mr. A would have blamed them for not wearing body armour. He was also chased into the subway by other cops before be shot himself. Doesn't sound too particular about it as long as he shot some cops before he shot himself.