Public Speaks Out After Two NYPD Officers Murdered
BALTIMORE (WJZ) --Trail of terror following accused cop killer Ismaaiyl Brinsley from Owings Mills to New York City. How was he getting money and where did he get the gun? An emotional day in New York, where a moment of silence honored two officers murdered in cold blood. Tuesday night the gunman's first victim, his ex-girlfriend, has been upgraded from critical to serious condition.
Investigator Mike Hellgren is learning more about Brinsley's fateful journey.
A moment of silence in New York marked the moment officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were killed.
Liu's widow broke her silence. You can hear the pain in her voice.
"This is a difficult time for both of our families, but we will stand together and get through this together," Pei Xia said.
The gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley began his rampage in Owings Mills, shooing his ex, Shaneka Thompson, who's condition is improving.
In a WJZ exclusive, Thompson's next door neighbor, who did not want to be identified, recounts the moment of the shooting.
"I just hear her scream and I heard the shot. That's when I heard her yelling, I guess to him, 'You shot me. You shot me. You shot me.' I could hear her running through the apartment, down the hall and out the door," the neighbor said.
After getting to New York just after noon Saturday, police said Brinsley discards his girlfriend's phone.
At 1:30 p.m., authorities discovered a threatening Instagram post.
At 2:10 p.m. Baltimore county police call to warn New York Police Department.
At 2:48 p.m., Brinsley opens fire.
"We're very sorry for what happened, for the innocent cops who were there, but it wasn't planned. He's not part of anything," Ann Arlege, Brinsley's aunt said.
Police are still trying to determine how Brinsley got the gun. WJZ has learned it was bought at a pawn shop in Georgia in 1996, when Brinsley was just nine years old.
"He seems to have had money, cashing in $100 bills, so we're checking very closely all of his relationships. What was his world like? We're very adept at that. We have some of the best detectives in the world," New York City police commissioner Bill Bratton said.
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