Slain detectives honored on 10th anniversary

December 20, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Children pet a therapy dog at a toy drive event memorializing a police officer killed in the line of duty a decade ago. Photo courtesy Councilmember Susan Zhuang.

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BENSONHURST — DECEMBER 20 MARKED THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY of the day two NYPD detectives were killed in the line of duty. Detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot in an ambush on Dec. 20, 2014, while sitting in their patrol car at the intersection of Myrtle and Thompkins avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The two were participating in an anti-terrorism drill when a man walked up to their patrol car and opened fire with a handgun. The gunman, who had shared his plot on social media before arriving in NYC, then ran into a nearby subway station and ended his own life.

City Councilmember Susan Zhuang and the Detective Wenjian Liu Foundation marked the anniversary by celebrating the detectives’ memory with the local community. On Thursday, Dec. 19, Zhuang and the foundation hosted a holiday cheer and toy giveaway for students at the Detective Wenjian Liu School of Civics and Entrepreneurship (P.S. 331) in Dyker Heights, both of which were named in honor of the slain detective. The school was dedicated earlier this year.

Students at the Detective Wenjian Liu School of Civics and Entrepreneurship receive toys from Councilmember Zhuang and partner groups. Photo courtesy Office of Councilmember Zhuang.

The foundation’s mission is to provide comfort through therapy dogs to the families of first line responders who have died in the line of duty. The foundation also donated $5,000 to the school and brought some of the therapy dogs to the toy giveaway. Also donating toys was Ye’s Grocery Store.