Two Boston police officers were gunned down by a suspect armed with an assault rifle and wearing body armor. The officers are in critical condition while 9 other officers were injured in a firefight that resulted in the death of the suspect.

The circumstances of the ambush are eerily similar to the murder of two Palm Springs police officers last week.

LA Times:

John Felix, 26, faces two counts of murder with the special circumstances of multiple murders, murder of a police officer in the line of duty and lying in wait.

“He wanted to gun down police officers because they wore the uniform,” Dist. Atty. Mike Hestrin said at a news conference. “He was deliberate in his actions. He attacked the officers for no reason other than they were officers coming to a call.” 

Hestrin said Felix was “prepared” for the attack.

“I would describe this as an ambush,” he said. “Those police officers walked into a trap.”

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department previously said that Felix used an assault rifle with an extended magazine to fire on Officers Lesley Zerebny, 27, and Jose “Gil” Vega, 63, through a metal security gate.

Felix also has been charged with three counts of attempted murder for allegedly firing at three other officers, one of whom was wounded and survived. That officer was discharged from the hospital on Sunday and “is doing well,” the Palm Springs Police Department said in a statement. The remaining officers have not been identified.

Authorities said Felix wore body armor during the shooting and that he was prohibited from owning or possessing firearms because he was a convicted felon. Felix, who also allegedly used armor-piercing bullets, has been charged with being in possession of a stolen AR-15 assault-style rifle, Hestrin said.

[...]

On Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Department said the officers who were killed were responding to a family disturbance at Felix’s home in the 2700 block of Cypress Road just after noon Saturday. A family member told officers that Felix was armed, sheriff’s officials said in a statement Tuesday.

“Officers spoke to Felix through a metal screen door and instructed him to step outside so they could conduct their investigation,” the department said. “Without provocation or warning, Felix fired upon the officers with an assault rifle.”

Compare the circumstances of that ambush with what happened to the two Boston cops yesterday.

CNN:

Two Boston police officers were shot and critically injured while responding to a call late Wednesday, police said.

The suspect in the shootings -- who was wearing body armor -- was later killed during an exchange of gunfire with officers, said police commissioner William Evans.

Police received a call regarding a "domestic incident" between two male roommates in East Boston around 11 p.m., Evans said. When officers entered the home, they could be heard on their radios screaming "303" -- which means shots fired and "officer down."

Officers dragged their wounded colleagues to safety as more shots were exchanged. The suspect had an assault rifle and wore a ballistic vest, Evans said.

He said police had no choice but to "neutralize" the suspect during the incident.

"We're not proud when we have to use deadly force. But obviously we had two officers gravely injured here and it left no choice."

The two injured officers are in critical condition at Massachusetts General Hospital and both are expected to have surgery, Williams said early Thursday morning. The two men have not been identified, but were longtime members on the police force, with one having served 28 years and the other for 12 years.

Nine additional police officers were being treated at Tufts Medical Center for minor injuries and stress, the police commissioner said.

Evans praised the officers for pulling their colleagues out of the line of fire, applying first aid and dealing with a life-threatening situation.

In both cases, officers were responding a "domestic incident"; in both cases, the assailant was armed with an assault rifle and wore body armor; in both cases, police were targeted for death.

A copycat ambush? Or a disturbing new tactic being used to assassinate police officers?

In this case, the gunman, Kirk Figueroa, was a "constable" in Boston and owned a private security firm. He has a long history of experience in several areas of law enforcement, according to the website Heavy. He was in the military as late as 2011.

Figueroa was black.

Along with John Felix (race unknown, but non-white)), the two shootings strongly suggest hatred of police as a motivation. Two other police officers lost their lives earlier this month; one in St; Louis and another in Los Angeles county. All suspects except the shooter in LA county, were believed to have targeted police.

This is the fruit of Black Lives Matter rhetoric which suggests police are terrorists and out to murder black men. Some members of BLM haven't been shy about advocating violence against officers. It is this sort of incendiary rhetoric that most affects those who are already violent and mentally unstable. 

Chalk up two more casualties in BLM's war on the cops.