Dead cop-killer hailed a hero

[superbeets]

[h=1]Dead cop-killer hailed a hero with memorial BIGGER than shrine for rookie officer he shot: Disgusting tributes to murderer as his widow says she wishes more cops had died in ambush he set[/h]

• Officer Melvin Santiago, 23, was shot in the head by a suspect in the botched robbery of a 24-hour store

• Gunman Lawrence Campbell, 27, stole the gun from an armed security guard before killing Santiago

• Other officers gunned down Campbell and later said that he had been implicated in another homicide in the city

• Campbell's wife says her husband should have killed more cops
  

• Santiago was a lifelong Jersey City resident and had only joined the police force last year - it was his dream job, family said
  
• Tuesday would have marked his one-year anniversary with the department

.

 

[superbeets]

In a shocking turn of events, the make-shift memorial erected for a cop-killer in New Jersey is bigger than the shine set-up for the rookie police officer he murdered in cold blood over the weekend - an act he claimed would make him 'famous'.



The temporary roadside memorial for Lawrence Campbell, who was shot dead by police in Jersey City after he killed 23-year-old Melvin Santiago on Sunday morning, boasts sickening tributes, even claiming that he should have killed more police.



Despite the death of Santiago, who had served only seven months on the force, Campbell's widow, Angelique Campbell, said that she only wishes her husband had shot dead other officers before they gunned him down outside a Walgreens after he stole a security guard's weapon - using it to shoot Santiago.


'That's how I feel. God forgive me, but that's how I feel,' Angelique Campbell told local reporters in New Jersey at the memorial for her husband who was wanted in connection with a prior Jersey City homicide.


'If that's the case, he should've took more with him. If they was going to stand over my husband and shoot him like a f---ing dog, he should've took all of them the f--- out.’


.

 

[superbeets]

+15

+15

Killer: Lawrence Campbell was an ex-con who witnesses say planned to kill a cop on Sunday morning

+15

Disgusting: Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop called the shrine to a killer 'disgusting' and 'ignorant'

+15

'Thug in peace': Campbell's wife said she feels her husband should have killed more police officers



.

 

[superbeets]

In addition to the empty liquor bottles, the memorial for 27-year-old ex-con Campbell includes t-shirts with messages from friends and members of the community saying things like 'Thug In Peace,”'and 'SEE U ON THE OTHER SIDE.'



Campbell never even tried to rob the Walgreens on Sunday morning and instead lay in wait for police, telling a witness to watch the news because he was 'going to be famous,' authorities said.

Lawrence Campbell, 27, shot Officer Melvin Santiago in the head shortly after he and his partner arrived at the 24-hour Walgreens at around 4 a.m., Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said. Other officers returned fire at Campbell, killing him.
Campbell, of Jersey City, was one of three suspects wanted by police for a prior homicide, Fulop said.

+15

+15



Heroic death: Jersey City Police Officer Melvin Santiago was gunned down by Lawrence Campbell, a man with multiple drug convictions and suspected in a previous homicide

+15

Tragic: A smaller memorial for 23-year-old Jersey City police officer Melvin Santiago stands at the Walgreens where he was fatally shot the previous day, Monday, July 14, 2014, in Jersey City, New Jersey

+15

Tiny: Pedestrians walk past a memorial for 23-year-old Jersey City police officer Melvin Santiago outside the Walgreens where he was fatally shot the previous day



.

 

[superbeets]

Fulop said Campbell was carrying a knife when he walked into Walgreens and asked for directions to the greeting card aisle. He assaulted an armed security guard at the store and snatched his gun, Fulop said. He waited for police to arrive, then shot Santiago with what police believe was the guard's weapon.



'Today was a horrible day for Jersey City,' Fulop said.



Dozens of officers stood single file at the entrance of the hospital and saluted as Santiago's flag-draped body was carried into an ambulance. A handful of younger officers consoled one another as they walked away. Santiago, 23, graduated from the police academy in December.




Fulop was there when Santiago's body arrived at the hospital. As Santiago's mother identified the body, Fulop said, she 'just keep repeating the badge number and saying that it's not possible.'



On Monday, Mayor Steven Fulop said the memorial and her comments aren't representative of the city as a whole.

+15

.A memorial for 23-year-old Jersey City police officer Melvin Santiago stands at the Walgreens where he was fatally shot on Sunday - it is significantly smaller than that of his killer Lawrence Campbell

.

 

[superbeets]

'There are people in every single community who just don't value life and this is highlighted by a situation like this,' Fulop told The Associated Press.


'There's a lot of reasons for that - some of it is decades of how they perceive police, some it's jobs, some of it's socioeconomics - but at the end of the day we're dealing with it today. When you talk about that situation, yes, it's ignorant, yes it's disgusting, but this represents a lot of the challenges we have.'


Santiago is the first Jersey City officer killed in the line of duty since Detective Marc DiNardo died in July 2009 during a raid on an apartment while searching for suspects in a robbery.


'It is a tragic situation when any officer is killed in the line of duty,' Fulop said. 'Melvin was an officer who represented everything one would want to see in a police officer. I know the entire city's thoughts and prayers are with the Santiago family during this difficult time and we mourn together.'


Jean Belviso, who has been delivering newspapers for 10 years, was driving through the Walgreens parking lot when she said saw a man wearing burgundy sweatpants and a baseball cap walk out of the store.


A police cruiser pulled up in front of Walgreens, and the suspect began shooting, the 61-year-old Belviso said.


'We thought he was running, coming toward us,' said Belviso, who was riding along with a friend. 'He kept on shooting.'

+15

Riddled: A Jersey City Police Department cruiser is seen with 13 bullet holes on the windshield at the scene

Bullets flew through the cruiser's windshield, 13 in all. The suspect was shot multiple times, and officers slapped handcuffs on him, Belviso said.


Campbell's body remained on the ground next to the bullet-riddled cruiser for more than five hours after the shooting before it was placed in a coroner's van and taken away.


Markeisha Marshall, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, said the company was 'deeply regretful' over the officer's death and extended its sympathies to his family and friends. The store has round-the-clock armed security, Marshall noted.


The Jersey City Police Benevolent Association said in a statement that their hearts were heavy over Santiago's death.
'Patrolman Santiago knew the risks associated with this job, yet he put himself in front of danger in order to keep Jersey City safe,' the association said. 'Words cannot adequately express our feelings about this senseless tragedy.'


Santiago was a lifelong resident of the northern New Jersey city directly across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan and had only last year graduated from Hudson County Community College with a degree in criminal justice.





Campbell, also from Jersey City, stabbed then beat the security guard before remarkably apologizing to a customer for his behavior, WCBS reported.


'Watch the news later, I'm going to be famous!' Campbell told the woman, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said during a Sunday press conference.

+15

The suspect: The gunman was wearing burgundy sweatpants, according to a witness, his body was lstill on the ground hours after he killed Officer Santiago



.

 

[superbeets]

The gunman then began firing on the cops as they arrived only minutes later. Police said Sunday that Campbell had also been linked to a previous homicide in the city.


'This guy deserves nothing, his name should be forgotten,' the slain officer's mother, Cathy McBride said.


'Don’t give him any notoriety,' she continued. 'He killed my son. My son was 23 and a good kid and didn’t deserve to get a bullet in his head doing his job, all because someone wanted to be famous.'


Santiago was on the police force less than one year, and his family claimed to the New York Daily News that he was living a childhood dream.
'He’s been dying to be a police officer. His uncle was also a police officer; this is what he wanted to do,' aunt Aggie Hernandez told the paper.

+15

Also wanted: Police are also searching for Daniel Wilson, who they believe was involved in a previous homicide with Campbell

'He was just an amazing person. He was our baby.'

Police were called to the 24-hour Walgreen’s about 10 blocks from the city’s Journal Square neighborhood just after 4.00 a.m., WABC reported.
Newspaper delivery person Jean Belviso told the New York Daily News she saw the man, wearing burgundy sweatpants and a baseball cap, walk calmly out of the store.
He then began shooting as Santiago’s police cruiser arrived in the parking lot, she added.
‘We thought he was running, coming toward us,’ said Belviso. ‘He kept on shooting.’
Belviso reported seeing bullets fly through the squad car’s windshield. One of them fatally struck Santiago in the head, others shattered the car’s rear window. Images from the scene showed 13 bullet holes in the car's windshield.
'He was a great guy, he always looked out. Even if you did something bad, he’ll teach you. He taught me a lot,' 12-year-old cousin Jeramiah Hernandez told the Daily News.
'The last time I spoke with him was after his graduation we went to Appleby’s and we celebrated,' the distraught young boy continued. 'That was the last time I saw him.'
Family told the paper he had only graduated from the police academy a few months ago. City payroll records show he was hired by the department July 15, 2013.

Friend Gary Narwold told the Post Santiago was a 'great guy who loved what he did.


'He wanted to work the West District, which is known around here as the Wild, Wild West.'


Another friend identified only as Baruti told the Post that his pal 'was proud to be a cop — it was what he always wanted to do.'


Campbell was an ex-con with multiple drug convictions and prison stints, criminal records showed. His most time behind bars came to an end this past January. That sentence ended two months of freedom after a previous three-year term.

+15

Where it happened: The suspect fled this Walgreen's after mercilessly beating an armed guard and stealing his gun

+15

Shut down: John F. Kennedy Boulevard, one of the city's busiest streets, was closed for hours after the shooting





Ashley Etienne, a 17-year-old niece of security guard Pierre Monsanto, says her uncle was severely injured in the attack that resulted in the suspect taking his gun.



‘We don't know what happened, but he was badly beaten,’ she told the Jersey Journal.



Fulop called it ‘a horrible day’ for the city during a Sunday morning press conference.


‘It is a tragic situation when any officer is killed in the line of duty,’ Fulop continued. ‘Melvin was an officer who represented everything one would want to see in a police officer.


‘I know the entire city's thoughts and prayers are with the Santiago family during this difficult time and we mourn together.’


The shooter’s dead body remained on the ground more than four hours after police shot him dead, he has yet to be identified.

+15

Show of solidarity: Dozens of cops from both the Jersey City Police Department and the Port Authority Police remained outside Jersey City Medical Center in the hours after Santiago was pronounced dead at the hospital




Officers gathered Sunday morning outside Jersey City Medical Center, where Santiago was pronounced dead, in a show of support for their fallen comrade.


Walgreen’s said no customers or employees were harmed in the incident.


The store has a security guard because of the high crime rate of the area it is in, only blocks from the notoriously crime-ridden, gang-infested Greenville neighborhood.

[h=4][/h]
'My God, it sounded like fireworks,' a local resident identified only as Mike told the paper. 'The amount of shots, and so fast, like 'pow, pow, pow, pow!'



'And then I heard the sirens. Those shots went on forever. I really thought it was fireworks,' Mike continued. 'There's no big staff in there at that time of the night in the Walgreen's... I wouldn't go in there late at night..'

.