New York police shooting

At a press conference following the deaths of the two police officers, New York Police Commissioner, William J Bratton said the men, Liu Wenjin and Raphael Ramos, were shot without warning or provocation.

The suspect, who Bratton named as 28-year old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, was reported to have fled the scene before fatally shooting himself in the head.

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

Brinsley reportedly walked up to the patrol car parked outside an appartment building in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on Saturday afternoon. Standing on the passenger side of the marked car, he started firing at the two uniformed officers. Both men were fatally wounded. They were pronounced dead after being taken to the Woodhull Medical Center.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the officers were shot "execution style."

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

Criminal records show Brinsley had a history of arrests on various charges in the state of Georgia, including robbery, shoplifting and carrying a concealed weapon.

Police shootings

The killings come at a time when the police in New York and elsewhere have been criticized for their tactics in making arrests, which have led to the deaths of unarmed individuals. There have been demonstrations and protests as grand juries have declined to prosecute the police officers involved in two of the cases.

But there was an immediate condemnation of the violence on Saturday from civil rights activist the Reverend Al Sharpton: "Any use of the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in connection with any violence or killing of police, is reprehensible and against the pursuit of justice in both cases," Sharpton said.

jm/jr (Reuters, AP)