The loved ones of slain cops Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu poured out their grief Sunday, as they struggled to understand why a killer would target the two officers.
“Our Christmas gift is a funeral home and a burial,” Ramos’ cousin Richard Gonzalez said. “That’s where we’ll be this Christmas.”
The slain officer’s elder son, Justin, described his love for his dad on Facebook.
“I just wish that I could have one more conversation with you,” he posted Sunday. “To hear your wisdom one more time, to hear your goofy stories or talk sports, to just tell you how you meant the world to me.”
Justin, who attends Bowdoin College in Maine, also shared an old photo of his dad holding him as a baby. Under the photo he wrote simply, “That’s love.”
A neighbor of Liu, meanwhile, called the killing “a tragedy, a big tragedy.”
“I started thinking about his parents and his wife,” the neighbor said. “She’s going to be alone now.”
The partners were working an anti-terrorism drill in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on Saturday when cop-hater Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot them each in the head before turning the gun on himself.
Liu, 32, had recently wed his wife in a simple ceremony at the couple’s Bensonhurst home, which they shared with his parents.
“They had a whole limo and everything,” a neighbor said. “It was parked in front of the house, and the flower girls were lined up.”
He was “very happy” about his nuptials and was looking forward to having a family of his own, sources said.
Liu, a seven-year veteran of the force, was usually tasked with monitoring activity on the Brooklyn Bridge.
It was unclear whether he worked the mass protests that shut down the bridge several times following the Eric Garner grand jury decision.
Ramos, who had two years on the force, started his career in law enforcement as a school safety officer, Gonzalez said.
“We always used to joke on him, ‘Oh, you’ll never be NYPD’ and he told me, ‘One day, I will, and I promise I will,’ ” the cousin recalled. “And, look, he accomplished it. He became a police officer two years on the force, and this is what happens.”
Gonzalez said his cousin “loved his job.”
“He got up in the morning, kissed his kids, sent his kids to school and went to do his work. He protected everyone,” Gonzales said.
“He was a sweetheart. He loved what he did. It was his dream. His No. 1 dream was to be a police officer. Our hearts are hurting because he died doing his job.”
Just two days before he was gunned down, Ramos changed his Facebook profile picture to a royal-blue square, a sign of support for officers who were protecting the streets during mass protests against the police.
The father of two was also “looking forward to spending Christmas with his family,” a police source said.
Ramos had just celebrated his 40th birthday on Dec. 9. His 13-year-old son, Jaden, posted a birthday message to his father with a photo collage.
“Happy birthday to the best dad in the world, you are always there for me even when it’s almost impossible,” he wrote.
“We have so many good times it’s not even funny, I love you so much.”
On Saturday, Jaden said it was the “worst day of my life.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a call at Ramos’ Cypress Hills home Sunday to meet with his widow, Margarita, and sons. He spent a heart-wrenching hour with the family, who wanted answers as to why the shocking attack happened.
“Why, why my dad?” one of his sons asked, Cuomo said. “What has my dad done? What did my dad do wrong?”
It wasn’t an easy question to answer, Cuomo said, adding, “The truth is, his father did everything right.”
Neighbors remembered Ramos as a “great father” and “hardworking.”
“He was a very nice guy,” said Emilio Rivera, 66. “Everybody loved him. I’m sorry he lost his life. He had a long life ahead of him.”
Despite Brinsley’s brutal act, Gonzalez said he and other family members were ready to turn the other cheek.
“We don’t blame him. We forgive him,” he said. “I know if Rafael was here and it was the opposite, he would say the same words. He’d forgive him.”
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