(CNN) -- Two New York City Police Officers are dead following an ambush Saturday afternoon.
Police Commissioner William Bratton said officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot while they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn.
Both officers sustained gunshot wounds to the head.
"Officer Liu and Officer Ramos never had the opportunity to draw their weapons. They may never have actually seen their assailant, their murderer," said Bratton.
The alleged assailant is Ismaaiyl Brinsley.
His body was found in a nearby subway station.
Officials said Brinsley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Brooklyn residents are shocked and outraged by the violence.
"We gotta take back our communities, this can't happen. If you mad at somebody, be mad at the person that you are mad at," said Shaniqua Pervis, Brooklyn resident. "Now, we have two families that's missing somebody for the holidays. I don't condone this, and I'm not with it."
Investigators said they are looking for a motive, but that Brinsley's social media posts indicated bias against law enforcement.
The fallen officers were not engaged with the shooter in any way before they were attacked.
