The widow of an NYPD officer who was slain in Bedford-Stuyvesant over the weekend while sitting in his patrol car is expressing her grief to the public.
"This is a difficult time for both of our families," a tearful Pei Xia Chen said Monday night. "But we will stand together and get through this together."
Her husband, Wenjian Liu, 32, and his partner, Rafael Ramos, 40, were fatally shot by Ismaaiyl Brinsley as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn Saturday. Brinsley then killed himself.
Liu, whose family moved from China when he was a teenager, had been a member of the police force for seven years after serving in the police auxiliary. He moved this year to a home in Brooklyn's Gravesend section and got married two months ago.
Liu's parents, from the city of Toishan in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, are limited in their English. A police sergeant who served as an interpreter for them said a lot of Chinese families want their children to become doctors and lawyers, but Liu "came here and wanted to become a police officer."
"He was a dedicated public servant who committed his life to helping others, and we will deeply miss him," said a family statement.
Liu's family is traveling to the U.S. from China and will decide on arrangements at a later time.