Police 'assassin' boasted online before shooting dead two New York officers
PUBLISHED : Monday, 22 December, 2014, 1:13am
UPDATED : Monday, 22 December, 2014, 12:59pm
Associated Press in New York
An ambulance carrying one of the two slain New York police officers passes an honour guard by firefighters in Brooklyn. Photo: Reuters
A police "assassin" boasted on Instagram "I'm putting wings on pigs today" before shooting dead two New York City police officers in a shocking daylight attack to avenge the police chokehold death of Eric Garner.
The popular photo-sharing service took down the account of Ismaaiyl Brinsley after his threats went viral in the wake of the execution-style shootings. Brinsley shot the officers, Liu Wenjian and rafael Ramos, on Saturday before running away and shooting himself. Liu's family was from Taishan in Guangdong province, the New York Times reported.
Just hours earlier, 28-year-old Brinsley wrote on his account: "I'm putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let's take 2 of theirs." He used the hashtags Shootthepolice, RIPErivGardner (sic) and RIPMikeBrown.
Rafael Ramos (left) and Liu Wenjian
"This may be my final post," he added in the post that included an image of a silver handgun.
"They were, quite simply, assassinated - targeted for their uniform," said Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, who looked pale and shaken.
US President Barack Obama, on holiday in Hawaii, condemned the shooting.
"The officers who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day - and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day," he said.
"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."
The Instagram messages cast a spotlight on the role of social media in revealing public threats of violence. Brinsley posted the comments three hours prior to the shooting and many online users questioned why no one was able to stop him.
Police said Brinsley approached the passenger window of a marked police car and shot officers Ramos and Liu in the head.
Officers chased him to a subway station, where he shot himself in the head as the door of a subway train full of people closed. A silver handgun was recovered at the scene.
The deaths followed weeks of simmering ill will between police and their critics after grand jury decisions not to indict officers in the deaths of Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Missouri. Garner and Brown were black and the officers who killed them are white.
In a separate development, a police officer was shot and killed in Tarpon Springs, Florida yesterday. The shooting occurred at around 3am local time in the Tampa Bay-area city.
Police said they would reveal more details at a press conference later today.
Additional reporting by Reuters
