New York (CNN) -- Officer Rafael Ramos sat in the driver's seat. Officer Wenjian Liu was at his side. The two cops weren't at their usual precinct -- normally, the pair was assigned to downtown Brooklyn, but they were working a "critical response" detail in an area with higher crime, police said. That's where they were slain, ambush-style -- Saturday afternoon as they sat in their patrol car, New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said at an evening news conference. The gunman approached the passenger side of the patrol car and took a shooting stance, witnesses told police. He opened fire several times, striking both officers in the head, Bratton said.
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Baltimore police reached out to NYPD
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Two NYPD officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, shot in Brooklyn
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Police have named Ismaaiyl Brinsley as shooter
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Both officers shot ambush-style while sitting in a patrol car
Rafael Ramos
Rafael Ramos
De Blasio said that @placeholder' 13-year-old son couldn't comprehend what had happened to his father.
Ismaaiyl Brinsley
Bratton said that @placeholder was somehow connected to Brooklyn, but would not discuss that information.
Baltimore
Bratton said that the suspect had earlier shot and seriously wounded a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend in @placeholder.
Ismaaiyl Brinsley
Baltimore police received information that @placeholder had made threatening comments about police, and sent a warning to police in New York, Bratton said.
New York
New York
Baltimore police received information that Brinsley had made threatening comments about police, and sent a warning to police in @placeholder, Bratton said.