Two New York Cops 'Assassinated' In Ambush

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By Sky News US Team

Two New York City police officers have been killed by a lone gunman as they sat in their parked patrol car in mid-afternoon.

The pair were shot in the head in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood of Brooklyn. Officials said they had been "ambushed and murdered".

The suspect has been named as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who had posted an apparent warning on Facebook just hours earlier.

In the message, he wrote about shooting two "pigs" in revenge for the death of Eric Garner, who died after a New York police officer used a chokehold during an arrest, sparking nation-wide protests.

Police Commissioner William Bratton identified the two dead officers as Liu Wenjin, 32 and Raphael Ramos, 40.

He said they were shot and killed "with no warning, no provocation".

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Gallery: Tributes As NYPD Officers Killed

A police officer lays flowers at a makeshift memorial at the scene were two officers were killed in Brooklyn

Victoms Liu Wenjin (L) and Raphael Ramos. Pics: NYPD

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The two were shot to death while sitting in a patrol car

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Fellow officers saluted the victims at the hospital where they were declared dead

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The scene at Woodhull Hospital

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"They were quite simply assassinated," Mr Bratton said.

Mr Liu, a seven-year veteran who got married two months ago, and Mr Ramos, father to a 13-year-old son, were "ambushed and murdered", officials said.

Mr Bratton added that Brinsley had published posts on Instagram that were "very anti-police".

Authorities have not confirmed the contents of the messages but an image has emerged of an Instagram post attributed to Brinsley.

Part of the caption reads: "I'm Putting Wings On Pigs Today. They Take 1 Of Ours ... Let's Take 2 of Theirs."

Brinsley shot and seriously injured his ex-girlfriend earlier on Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland, before travelling to New York.

He fired through the passenger side of the officers' vehicle with a silver semi-automatic handgun just before 3pm local time (8pm UK time).

The 28-year-old then ran inside a subway station and fatally shot himself in the head as responding officers pursued him.

The shooting occurred around the same time New York police were receiving a warning fax from authorities in Baltimore.

President Barack Obama condemned the killings, saying there was no justification for them, while Attorney General Eric Holder called the deaths an "unspeakable act of barbarism".

The shooting comes amid heightened tensions in New York and across the US over police tactics following the death of Mr Garner and the shooting dead of Michael Brown in Missouri.

Several officers have been assaulted at protests in New York during demonstrations that have largely been peaceful.

Mr Bratton said they were looking at whether the suspect had attended any rallies or demonstrations.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has come under attack for not supporting the police, and on Saturday some officers turned their backs on him as he walked into the hospital where the two cops were declared dead.

The New York police union head declared there is "blood on the hands" of protesters and Mr de Blasio.

The shooting shocked the city .

One man who lives in the area, Derrick Thompson, said the shooting happened across from the Tompkins Houses public housing development.

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

The Reverend Al Sharpton, a civil rights leader who has supported the families of Mr Brown and Mr Garner, said Mr Garner's family has no connection to the suspect and denounced the shootings.

He 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."

Mr Brown's family also condemned the shootings, saying in a statement they reject "any kind of violence directed toward members of law enforcement".

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