Two police officers were shot dead by a gunman on Saturday, December 20, NYPD has announced. The shooter then went on to kill himself.

Hispanic Rafael Ramos and Asian Wenjian Liu were sitting inside their patrol car in Brooklyn when 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, a black man approached them and started shooting at them several times.

According to US media reports, earlier in the day Brinsley was in Baltimore, where he shot and injured his ex-girlfriend and posted angry and threatening anti-police messages on his Instagram page, a fact that shows that his two victims were targeted for their uniform.

President Barack Obama was briefed about the shootings and released the following statement, condemning the heinous crime.

“Officers who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day.”

The attack comes after the announcement of the grand jury decisions not to indict police officers over the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, in Ferguson, Missouri.

Both decisions have sparked nationwide protests in the US.