Two New York police officers were shot to death while sitting in their patrol car in a Bronx neighborhood Saturday afternoon by a lone wolf gunman who apparently hated cops. He reportedly posted an Instagram message saying,
“I’m Putting Wings On Pigs Today,” the post said. “They Take 1 Of Ours. Let’s Take 2 Of Theirs. #ShootThePolice #RIPErivGardner (sic) #RIPMikeBrown This May Be My Final Post. I’m Putting Pigs In A Blanket”
Police said there was no altercation; the gunman simply took a shooting stance and opened fire, then fled into a subway where he committed suicide. They described the shooting as an “ambush.” The gunman has been identified as Ismaaiyl Abdula Brinsley, 28, from Baltimore. Several hours earlier, he wounded an ex-girlfriend in a Maryland suburb.
It was the second unprovoked attack on NYPD officers in two months. In October, a man injured two officers with a hatchet before being shot dead. FBI Director James Comey called that attack an ideologically driven “act of terrorism.”
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton, and activists who have led protests against police brutality all condemned the shooting. Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton said, “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. We have stressed at every rally and march that anyone engaged in any violence is an enemy to the pursuit of justice for Eric Garner and Michael Brown.”
Micahel Brown’s family released a statement that “condemns today’s senseless killing of two NYPD officers. We reject any kind of violence directed toward members of law enforcement. It cannot be tolerated. We must work together to bring peace to our communities.”
(Sources: CNN, CBS News, NBC News)