Police: Cop killer shot ex-girlfriend in Owings Mills first

The man who allegedly murdered two New York City police officers on Saturday had also shot a woman in Owings Mills, Md., just hours before.

According to Baltimore County police, a female victim described as a former girlfriend of Ismaaiyl Brinsley, was shot , allegedly by Brinsley, inside her apartment on the 10000-block of Mill Run Circle in the early hours of Saturday morning. She had been shot in the abdomen and is expected to survive.

Late Sunday morning police identified her as  Shaneka Nicole Thompson, 29, and said she was shot  with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. She remained in critical but stable condition at a nearby hospital. Because of her condition, police said detectives have not yet been able to interview her. They, along with NYPD detectives who are on their way to Baltimore, hope to be able to interview her later today if her condition improves. She is expected to survive her injuries.

According to police accounts Brinsley fled the scene before police arrived after the shooting. Detectives later got a hold of Instagram posts by Brinsley that indicated that he had  gone to Brooklyn and was posting threats about killing police in retaliation for the choking death of Eric Garner by a NYPD police officer in July.

A Grand Jury acquitted the officer in December.

Unfortunately, as Baltimore Police were contacting the NYPD,  Brinsley, 28, was ambushing officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu  as they sat in their parked squad car. He shot them both in the head.

Police said they made a phone call to the 70th police precinct in New York at about 2:10, advising them that “the phone of a suspect wanted for a shooting in Owings Mills was pinging at a location in the 70th precinct.” The departments discussed the threatening Instagram posts, and about the same time Baltimore police faxed a “wanted” poster to NYPD with information about  Brinsley.