times square ball drop this new year's eve. the sister and aunt of the gunman who shot the nypd officers are speaking out. ismaaiyl brinsley who shot himself as police closed in and his family members say they are grieving for themselves and for the families of the dead police officers. they insist that despite brinsley's anti-cop tirade on social media, this is not politically motivated. >> we give our condolences to the families. >> we are very sorry. >> this has nothing to do with police retaliation. this was a troubled emotionally troubled kid. he needed help. he didn't get it. if he got arrested this many times, that was a question why won't they help him out? they kept releasing him to the streets. isn't that a problem that's a
earlier mayor bill deblasio made an unannounced visit to the street memorial where the officers were shot. like so many new yorkers, deblasio was drawn to an ordinary corner, now turned almost sacred. last night with tears streaming down their faces, the family of officer liu spoke. the most powerful words coming from his wife of just two months. >> this is a difficult time for both of our families. but we will stand together and get through this together. >> reporter: among those offering condolences, the familiar lift gunman, ismaaiyl brinsley who later took his own life. his sister. her brother's actions were not revenge but the result of untreated mental problems. >> i feel so bad for the family. >> we give our condolences. we are grieving. >> this has nothing to do with
>> i would like to thank all those who shared our sympathy and report for our family member rafael ramos who will always be loved and missed by many. >> reporter: officer liu who was 32 had been married just a couple of months. described by some around the neighborhood as quiet and in love. his parents are from china and according to period ya reports he was their only son. one friend of liu's summed up his passion for police work in "the new york times." "i know that being a cop is dangerous but i must do it." officer liu had said "if i don't do it and you don't do it, then who is going to do it?" randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> now, the more we learn about the gunman, ismaaiyl brinsley, the more we discover he's been troubled for a very long time. his sister says he was mentally ill but later in the program we'll have details on his criminal past including
emotional problems and crime. here's a background now from cnn's nick valencia. >> reporter: at 28 years old ismaaiyl brinsley's life was full of failure. broken relationships and run-ins with police. >> career criminal. a troubled individual. clearly deeply emotionally troubled past. >> reporter: after bouncing from address to address as a teen he leaves a new jersey high school in 10th grade and drifts according to the "new york times." traces of his troubles over the years are found in police reports that spread from georgia to hawaii. in the last ten years brinsley is arrested at least 19 times. in a 2013 police incident report in brooklyn, new york brinsley assaults his five months pregnant ex-girlfriend. the perp put his hand on the victim's forehead, the report says, and hit the victim on the head with his head. in another report from 2011, brinsley opens fire on a woman's car. he later flees, only to be arrested and charged for the crime. the list of police reports goes on and on. from probation violations to
officers are laid to rest. >> after we do that and everyone has a moment to think, we're going to ask the question, why did this happen? who caused it? what inflamed it? and they should be held responsible. >> funeral will be held for rav yal rafael ramos on saturday. l liu's wife spoke publicly for the first time last night. >> this is a difficult time for both of our families. but we will stand together and get through this together. >> she and liu had been married for just two months. we're also hearing from the family of the gunman who says the attack was not about targeting police. >> he was emotionally troubled young man. clearly something is wrong. he should have been offered help
stay row foam boxes cops say was carrying the murder weapon. cops are also interested in following brinsley's money trail. >> where does he get his money? he's a couch crasher. he doesn't seem to have a residence. but he seems top have money, cashing $100 bills. so we are check all of his relationships. >> reporter: for the moment cops say they believe ismaaiyl brinsley acted alone in his murderous rampage. an emotional few days ahead for the entire new york city population and of course most of all its police department. hundreds of new yorkers have made the pilgrimage to the spot in brooklyn where the two
the two fallen officers. so let's just a take a moment and see him as he pays his respects here where you see flowers, candles, cards that have been left. we saw a group of sanitation workers drop off a large wreath. i'll continue to tell you that yesterday we also heard from the sister and the mother of ismaaiyl brinsley who said he was troubled and he was suicidal and police gave us more details into his social media. 119 photographs on instagram. many of them anti-police, anti-government. also, a thousand photographs left on his phone they discovered including one of video of an anti-police rally on december 1st that he took. they released a video, craig, that showed eded him in a brooklyn mall around noon on saturday. that's when they lost track of
it was purchased 20 years ago. it was purchase in a georgia pawn shop. we don't know how he got his hand on this gun. he somehow got his hand on a weapon and he had in the past. one of these charges was possession of a stolen weapon so that question is still unclear. we hope police will release the details in the coming days. >> just awful. 20 years ago, this gun bought. no one knows how many of them are out there. "outfront," the editor-in-chief, michael along with criminal defense attorneys. mark, let me start with you. there were several thousands images on brinsley's cell phone. they found footage of the recent protest. they describe him being a spectator watching the protest. over the past few months we've seen protesters in some cases becoming violent toward police. there was the sucker punch in new york. a week and a half ago, some of the protesters demonstrating in
it is just heartbreaking, don. >> it is absolutely terrible. the mayor and the police commissioner held a police conference today, and this is surveillance video of ismaaiyl brinsley that you're looking at right now. martin, what is the significance of the video in we'll put it up. there it is. >> reporter: the important thing to note is this video is taken of course at a shopping area in brooklyn not that far away from this scene and it was apparently about three hours before the shooting took place. so you're looking at something that is about to happen. of course we're looking at it in hindsight. but it's also the authorities trying to say look, there was about a 2 1/2-hour gap, we don't know what this man did before the shooting. they want to find out whoa talked to, whoa was in contact with. they want to make sure no one else is an accomplice in any way to this horrific crime. >> in bedford-stuyvesant, brooklyn for us this evening. thank you, martin. i want to bring in the volunteer emergency workers who were the first on the scene of the attack and desperately fought to save the wounded officers. and you see the chaotic moments after the shooting in this cell phone video from witnesses -- a
illness. it doesn't make them dangerous. in fact it makes them more likely to be a victim than a perpetrator. but when you see the violence manifest itself -- >> why is he out on the streets? this is from his family. it's new tonight from ismaaiyl brinsley's family. take a listen. >> i feel so bad for the family. >> we give our condolences. >> we give our condolences to the family. >> we're grieving, and we're very sorry. >> this has nothing to do with police retaliation. this was a troubled, emotionally troubled kid. he needed help. he didn't get it. and if he got arrested this many times, that was a question, like why wouldn't they help him out in but they kept releasing him into the streets. so isn't that a problem that the justice system should be asking? not us. >> good question. that was his sister and his aunt, by the way. our affiliate wcbs. good question. is it retaliation? and is this a question that the justice system should be answering, tom? >> why is this guy out? why was he out?