Reuters reports via Yahoo News that a suicide shooter has assassinated two New York policemen. The gunman had earlier in the day shot his girlfriend in the stomach after which he drove from Maryland to New York City with the avowed purpose of killing two policemen there.
Following the shooting of the officers, the gunman ran to a subway station where he shot himself fatally. He was an African American named Brinsley who affected Islamic first and middle names.
On social media Brinsley alleged he was acting to avenge the recent deaths of Eric Garner and Mike Brown at the hands of the police. His record shows him essentially to be a career criminal.
There is little conceptually differentiating what Brinsley did and what a suicide bomber does. People intent on murder who expect to die (and are okay with that) are very hard to defend against.
Unfortunately, such tragedies give the police justification for shooting on suspicion, rather than on actual unambiguous mortal threat. If New York's mayor de Blasio doesn't support his police we could see a mass NYPD resignation, leaving the city unpoliced and the governor no choice but to call out the National Guard and declare martial law.
