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New York gunman bragged to onlookers

December 22, 2014

The man who shot dead two New York police officers told bystanders to "watch what I'm going to do" just before the killings, police say. The attack was in retaliation for the police chokehold death of Eric Garner.

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New York police pay respects
Image: Reuters/S. Keith

The authorities also said that prior to Saturday's broad daylight shooting, the lone gunman, identified as 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, posted a message online announcing that he planned to shoot two "pigs."

Earlier on Saturday, Brinsley had shot his former girlfriend in Baltimore. He then posted photos on an Instagram account threatening to kill New York City officers.

"They take one of ours... let's take 2 of theirs," read a comment seemingly written by Brinsley, next to a photo of a silver handgun.

The police in Baltimore sent a warning fax to the New York police department - at just the same time that Brinsley was carrying out his attack in Brooklyn.

'Barbarism'

Brinsley reportedly walked up to a patrol car parked outside an apartment building in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on Saturday afternoon and opened fire.

Both officers, Liu Wenjin and Raphael Ramos, were fatally wounded and pronounced dead after being taken to the Woodhull Medical Center.

US Attorney General Eric Holder called the deaths an "unspeakable act of barbarism."

In a statement released on Saturday, US President Barack Obama said: "I unconditionally condemn today's murder of two police officers in New York City," and that there was "no justification for the killings."

Retaliation

The revenge attack is reported to have been in the name of 43-year-old Garner who died in July as he was tackled to the ground by police officers in Staten Island on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes on the streets.

Garner's death, and those of other unarmed black men at the hands of the police, sparked US wide protests, some of which turned violent.

Memorial service

On Sunday, candlelit vigils were held at a makeshift memorial at the scene of the shooting in memory of the two murdered officers.

A somber mass was also held at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. The New York Jets football team also commemorated the loss through a moment of silence.

The last shooting death of a New York police officer was in December 2011, when 22-year veteran Peter Figoski responded to a report of a break-in at a Brooklyn apartment.

ksb/cd (AFP, AFP)