Two New York City police officers have been killed by a lone gunman as they sat in their parked patrol car in broad daylight.
Both officers were shot in the head in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood of Brooklyn by the suspect, who has been named as Ismaaiyl Brinsley.
Police Commissioner William Bratton identified the two officers as Liu Wenjin, 32 and Raphael Ramos, 40.
He said they were shot and killed "with no warning, no provocation".
"They were quite simply assassinated," Mr Bratton said.
Mr Liu, a seven-year veteran who got married two months ago, and Mr Ramos, father to a 13-year-old son, were "ambushed and murdered", officials said.
Mr Bratton added that Brinsley had published posts on Instagram that were "very anti-police".
Authorities have not revealed the contents, but two officials told the Associated Press that Brinsley posted about shooting two "pigs" in retaliation for the death of Eric Garner, who died after a New York police officer used a chokehold during an arrest.
An image later emerged of an Instagram post that has been attributed to Brinsley.
Part of the caption with it reads: "I'm Putting Wings On Pigs Today. They Take 1 Of Ours ... Let's Take 2 of Theirs."
Brinsley shot and seriously injured his ex-girlfriend earlier on Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland, before travelling to New York.
He fired through the passenger side of the officers' vehicle with a silver semi-automatic handgun just before 3pm local time (8pm UK time).
The 28-year-old then ran inside a subway station and fatally shot himself in the head as responding officers pursued him.
The shooting occurred around the same time New York police were receiving a warning fax from authorities in Baltimore.
Attorney General Eric Holder called the deaths an "unspeakable act of barbarism".
Local resident Derrick Thompson said the shooting happened across from the Tompkins Houses public housing development.
"I was watching TV, and then I heard the helicopters," he said. "I walked out, and all of a sudden - this."
The shooting comes amid heightened tensions in New York and across the United States over police tactics following the death of Mr Garner and the shooting dead of Michael Brown in Missouri.
Several officers have been assaulted at protests in New York during demonstrations that have largely been peaceful.
Mr Bratton said they were looking at whether the suspect had attended any rallies or demonstrations.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights leader who has supported the families of Mr Brown and Mr Garner, said Mr Garner's family has no connection to the suspect and denounced the shootings.
He said: "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."
The city's mayor, Bill de Blasio, said: "When a police officer is murdered, it tears at the foundation of our society. It is an attack on all of us.
"Our entire city was attacked by this heinous individual."
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