As is generally the case during breaking news, additional details later surface that serve to shed further light on what actually transpired. In the case of slain New York City Police Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos yesterday afternoon, details have surfaced that point to the possible culpability of NYPD command for failure to inform its officers of an imminent threat specific to police officers in Liu and Ramos' immediate location.
Just before 6 a.m. yesterday, Shaneka Nicole Thompson, 29, was shot in the abdomen at her apartment where she lives alone in Owings Mills, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Baltimore. Ms. Thompson's assailant is believed to be Ismaaiyl Abdula Brinsley, 28, with whom she purportedly had a brief relationship within the last year and who apparently fled the scene prior to police arrival. Two of Ms. Thompson's neighbors summoned police after hearing gunshots. Ms. Thompson's condition was initially critical and neither Baltimore County officers nor New York City detectives had yet been able to interview her as of yesterday evening.
Baltimore County Police suspected that her assailant had stolen Ms. Thompson's phone and when, at about 1:30 p.m. they were informed by a relative that Brinsley was posting to social media, they not only tracked the phone, but used geo-tagging data on pictures posted to determine that he was in Brooklyn.
In particular, an Instagram message made clear that Brinsley intended to target police officers next:
NYC Police Commissioner William J. Bratton has been quoted "lament[ing] the timing of the warning from [Baltimore County] authorities. 'The tragedy here is that just as the warning was coming in, the murder was occurring,' he said." However, according to Baltimore County Police:
At about 2:10 p.m. BCoPD made a phone call to the 70th precinct in New York, advising NYPD that the phone of a suspect wanted for a shooting in Owings Mills was pinging at a location in the 70th precinct. NYPD and BCoPD discussed the threatening Instagram posts during that phone call. Also around 2:10 p.m., BCoPD faxed a "wanted" poster to NYPD with information about the suspect, Brinsley.
The wanted poster, also at the link above, includes a photo of Brinsley, a description of his clothing (which was the same clothing he was found in after his suicide), the particular warning from his Instagram that he intended to shoot police that day, and a general warning, "Please use extreme caution. Threats on police. Armed subject."
The murders of Liu and Ramos are reported to have occurred shortly prior to 3:00 p.m.
Significantly, the slain officers were reported to be participating in an anti-terrorism drill at the time, a drill exercise that requires quick response from authorities.
Mon Dec 22, 2014 at 5:11 PM PT: UPDATE: 12/22/14 @ 1:32 p.m.
BCoPD has published a timeline in which they have refuted their own earlier press release. While the timeline still shows that the call to the 70th precinct occurred at 2:10 p.m., BCoPD now claims that the call lasted 30 minutes and that the wanted poster was faxed at the conclusion of the call.
http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/...