Two US Police Officers Shot Dead İn Line Of Duty

A gunman fatally shot two New York City police officers on Saturday as they sat in a patrol car, and then killed himself.



"Today, two of New York's finest were shot and killed, with no warning, no provocation," Commissioner William J. Bratton said in a press conference. "They were, quite simply, assassinated -- targeted for their uniform."



Police officers Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, were sitting in a marked police car in front of 98 Tompkins Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn when the suspect, identified as 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, shot them ambush-style, officials said.



President Barack Obama condemned the attack, and said there was "no justification" for the killings.



After the attack, Brinsley, pursued by other officers, fled into the Myrtle-Willoughby Avenues subway station, where he shot himself in the head while on the platform.



Officers Ramos and Liu were transported to Woodhull Medical Center immediately after the shooting, but succumbed to their injuries despite resuscitating efforts.



Brinsley had shot and seriously wounded his former girlfriend in her residence in Baltimore County, Maryland, early on Saturday before travelling to New York City, authorities said. Brooklyn is at approximately 300 kilometers driving distance from Baltimore County.



 



- Revenge motive implicated



 



Condemning the attack, President Obama said late Saturday, in a statement from the White House: "Two brave men won't be going home to their loved ones tonight, and for that, there is no justification."



Obama called for calm, saying: "I ask 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."



Screenshots taken from an Instagram account allegedly used by Brinsley showed a picture of a black man with thin-framed glasses and a separate picture of a grey pistol.



"I'm Putting Wings On Pigs Today. They Take 1 Of Ours...... [sic] Let's Take 2 of Theirs #ShootThePolice," the writing accompanying the picture said. "Pig" is used as a slang word referring to a police officer.



The post also included hashtags #RIPEricGarner and #RIPMikeBrown, referring to two unarmed black men who were shot dead by white police officers in July and August respectively.



Earlier in December, a grand jury decided to file no criminal charges in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. The decision, together with an earlier grand jury ruling to not indict a Missouri police officer in the death of Michael Brown, sparked protests in New York and other cities across the U.S, and ignited a debate on police brutality and race relations.



"This May Be My Final Post," said the account attributed to Brinsley. The picture of the pistol posted in the account looks similar to the picture provided by police of a silver semi-automatic Taurus recovered on the subway platform near the suspect's body.



The last fatal shooting of a New York police officer in the line of duty occurred in December 2011, when veteran officer Peter Figoski died after being shot when he interrupted a robbery in northeastern Brooklyn.



www.aa.com.tr/en - New York