© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

2 Police Officers Shot And Killed In New York

Police officers surround the area where two New York City police officers were killed Saturday afternoon as they sat in their marked police car on a Brooklyn street corner.
Spencer Platt
/
Getty Images
Police officers surround the area where two New York City police officers were killed Saturday afternoon as they sat in their marked police car on a Brooklyn street corner.

Update at 8:30 p.m. ET

Two New York police officers were ambushed and fatally shot while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood Saturday. The suspected gunman has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In a press conference, New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said the officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, were killed with "no warning, no provocation." They were shot in the head by a gunman standing by the passenger window, the commissioner said; the shooter, identified as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, then entered a nearby subway station and killed himself.

The gunman shot a woman in Baltimore on Saturday morning before traveling to New York City, Bratton said. Baltimore police sent a "warning flier" to the NYPD, but the police commissioner said the warning fax arrived at approximately the same time the shooting occurred.

Bratton said the shooting didn't appear to be an act of terrorism. The police say they are investigating the gunman's motives, and as part of their investigation they will look into anti-police Instagram posts which have been attributed to the suspect.

Both Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio emphasized that anyone who sees or hears threats against police, in person or over social media, should report the threat to the authorities.

Attorney General Eric Holder called the killings "an unspeakable act of barbarism." The Rev. Al Sharpton announced a Sunday press conference with the widow and mother of Eric Garner "denouncing the killing of the two NYPD officers" and offering prayers for the families of the victims.

The AP described the scene after the shooting:

"A block from the shooting site, a line of about eight police officers stood with a German shepherd blocking the taped-off street. Streets were blocked even to pedestrians for blocks around.

"Derrick Thompson, who lives nearby, said the shooting happened across from the Tompkins Houses public housing development.

" 'I was watching TV, and then I heard the helicopters,' Thompson said. 'I walked out, and all of a sudden — this.' "

It's the first fatal shooting of a New York City police officer since 2011, The New York Times reports.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Camila Flamiano Domonoske covers cars, energy and the future of mobility for NPR's Business Desk.