Gunman Kills Two NYPD Officers In Brooklyn
“They were, quite simply, assassinated,” said NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, of the two officers shot in their patrol car Saturday in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Police said the gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who shot his ex-girlfriend earlier in the day in Baltimore County, also killed himself.
A police officer wipes tears from his face as he walks away from the scene the shooting Saturday. Carlo Allegri / Reuters
What We Know So Far
- Two NYPD officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, were shot inside their squad car at approximately 2:50 p.m. ET Saturday.
- Police say Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot the two officers, then fled to a subway station and shot himself.
- The shooting occurred in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.
- Both police officers are dead, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton confirmed.
- Brinsley also allegedly shot his ex-girlfriend Saturday morning in Baltimore County, Maryland.
- Police union president Patrick Lynch blamed Mayor de Blasio and protesters for the shooting, and a tweet allegedly from a different organization said de Blasio had blood on his hands.
Updates
Shaneka Thompson, Ismaaiyl Brinsley’s first shooting victim, was released from the University of Maryland Medical Center today.
Thompson is a member of the Air Force Reserves, and reportedly had a brief relationship with Brinsley in the past.
Carlo Allegri / Reuters
Both New York police officers were shot in the head before they died.
NYC Medical Examiner - Rafael Ramos suffered gunshot wounds of head, neck & torso; Wenjian Liu suffered gunshot wound of head. #NYPD
— Darla Miles (@DarlaMiles7)
Brinsley was previously arrested 19 times in Georgia and Ohio, police said.
He served almost two years in a Georgia prison for criminal possession of a weapon and was released in July 2013.
President Obama spoke with New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton by phone on Sunday morning, according to this report from the White House Press Pool:
This morning the President phoned New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton to express condolences for the killing of two New York City Police officers and offer support in the coming days and weeks. In their conversation, the President reiterated his call for the American people to reject violence and words that harm, and turn to words that heal – prayer, patient dialogue, and sympathy for the friends and family of the fallen. The President told Commissioner Bratton that his staff would continue to monitor the situation in New York, and that Administration officials would be working with leaders across the country to echo the same message. The President also offered the Commissioner his full support for any possible assistance in the days and weeks ahead.
According to his family, gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley was not involved in radical Islam, but he had a troubled and violent past, NYPD Chief Robert Boyce said on Sunday.
NBC News / Via nbcnews.com
Brinsley came from a Muslim family, but he was estranged from his two sisters and his mother was afraid of him, Boyce said. He had made past suicide attempts, Boyce added, but police were not aware that he had received treatment for mental health issues.
The gun that was used in the shootings was purchased from a pawn shop in 1996 by a person who was not Brinsley, Boyce said. Police were speaking with the registered owner of the gun and attempting to find out how it came to be in Brinsley’s hands.
Police on Sunday afternoon were also speaking with his ex-girlfriend, who remained in a hospital under treatment for a gunshot wound. Boyce said it appeared his rampage began after he let himself into her apartment with a key he was not supposed to have.
“She did not want anything to do with him, and that caused the argument,” Boyce said.
After shooting her, police believe Brinsley took a bus to New York. He may have been in the city earlier in the week as well.
He spoke with two men immediately before approaching the officers, Boyce said. He asked them their gang affiliation and told them to follow him on Instagram. “Watch what I’m going to do,” Brinsley told them.
He then walked past the NYPD officers, circling back to approach them from behind, Boyce said. He shot four times. One minute before the shooting, New York police received a faxed Wanted poster of Brinsley from Baltimore County police.
Ten people witnessed the shooting, Boyce continued, and 35 others heard the four shots. Two utility workers followed Brinsley in their truck as he fled and alerted other police officers, Boyce said. Those officers followed him into a subway station, where he took his own life.
Police are continuing to recreate Brinsley’s movements over the past days, as well as account for the hour and 40 minutes before the shooting of the officers. Police also had no more information about any involvement by Brinsley in protests over the death of Eric Garner.
Police are also waiting on search warrants to look at the contents of two iPhones in Brinsley’s possession at the time of the crimes.
“We expect pictures,” Boyce said.
Police in Baltimore Country, Maryland, have identified the woman Ismaaiyl Brinsley allegedly shot before traveling to Brooklyn and allegedly murdering two NYPD officers.
Shaneka Nicole Thompson, 29, was shot in the abdomen with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun just before 6 a.m. Saturday, police said.
Thompson, of the Owings Mills neighborhood, remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital. Police say she is expected to survive her injuries.
Baltimore County police said they have been unable to interview her because of her condition. NYPD detectives are also traveling to Baltimore to interview Thompson if her condition improves.
“Based on preliminary information from other sources, police believe that Thompson and Brinsley had a previous romantic relationship, and they believe that relationship dates back less than a year,” police said in a statement. “They have no children together, and Thompson lived alone at the Owings Mills apartment complex.”
Brinsley has no ties to the Baltimore area apart from Thompson, police said, and there is no indication of him having any prior criminal activity in Maryland.
Brinsley allegedly stole Thompson’s phone, allowing police to track his movements to New York City.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. released the following statement on Sunday:
I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the families of the two NYPD officers who lost their lives in the line of duty yesterday. Everyone in the law enforcement community and people of good will here in New York and around the country grieves with them.
The cowardly murders committed yesterday bring us no closer to a more just society. Violence and its counterpoint, apathy, are the enemies of positive change. Now is the time for meaningful civic engagement and thoughtful, civil discourse. Today is not a time for finger-pointing or blame, which only serves to divide, rather than unite.
Police bear a tremendous responsibility to keep neighborhoods safe for those who reside, work, or visit here. On a daily basis, their work saves lives in every community, in every neighborhood. Today, I join all New Yorkers in thanking them, reflecting on their bravery, and their sacrifice.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton has released a message to the men and women of his department.
This message comes with deep sadness. Put the flags at half-mast. Today, two of our officers were shot and killed, with no warning, no provocation, in the 079 Precinct. They were assassinated—targeted for their uniform, and for the responsibility they embraced: to keep the people of this city safe. Police Officer Wenjian Liu and Police Officer Rafael Ramos will be remembered. They will join a line that is too long, a line of partners who served together and made the ultimate sacrifice together: Foster and Laurie, Piagentini and Jones, Reddy and Glover, Cerullo and Masone, Guerzon and Williams, Andrews and Nemorin, Parker and Rafferty, and now Liu and Ramos. We will not forget them, and we will not forget the oath they took—that we all took, too—but for which they died: that we uphold the constitution, and faithfully discharge our duties, to the best of our ability. May God grant Officer Wenjian Liu and Officer Rafael Ramos rest. And to all members of the service, be safe.
Videos on YouTube show the moment NYPD officers told commuters in a subway stop near the scene of the shooting to “get down,” after the suspect fled to the station and fatally shot himself.
New video has emerged of the chaotic scenes in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, as the two slain NYPD officers are taken away in ambulances, while swarms of police clear the area.
Warning: Some viewers may find the video disturbing.
BuzzFeed News reporter Ellie Hall is at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan, where Cardinal Dolan is holding mass that will be attended by Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Packed pews at St. Patrick's ahead of the 10:15 Mass, which will be attended by @CardinalDolan and @deBlasioNYC:
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall)
(NYC Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner Bratton, and Chief O'Neill in first pew at St. Patrick's.)
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall)
In homily, Dolan asks Bratton + O'Neill to tell NYPD that St. Patrick's "thundered with prayer for them," + congregation burst into applause
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall)
Echoing today's Gospel, @CardinalDolan said he hoped all police officers heard the voice of God and knew: "Be not afraid. I am with you."
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall)
BuzzFeed News reporter Darren Sands reported Sunday morning from a police precinct near the site of the shooting:
There are a ton of exhausted and emotionally drained NYPD officers showing up to the precinct at Greene and Tompkins in Bed-Stuy.
— Darren Sands (@darrensands)
Cars double parked near the block of the precinct closest to where two NYPD officers were shot earlier today. A sad reality.
— Darren Sands (@darrensands)
Ramos’ 13-year-old son “couldn’t comprehend what had happened to his father,” de Blasio said Saturday.
Officials met with the officers’ family members after the shooting, de Blasio explained during a Saturday news conference. Later, a widely circulated Facebook post appeared to show the boy grappling with Ramos’ death and saying, “Today is the worst day of my life.”
God have mercy. RT @NYPDJew: A cops son's sad goodbye. Heartbreaking #NYPD #JadenRamos #NYPDLivesMatter
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank)
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.
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