One was a newlywed, the other a dad of two sons who had just celebrated his 40th birthday a week ago.
Portraits emerged of the two officers slain in a senseless Brooklyn ambush Saturday — men who were liked and respected in their Downtown Brooklyn precinct and beloved at home.
Officer Rafael Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu died side-by-side after being shot point-blank in the head by a gunman who hours earlier had railed online about wanting to take two cops' lives in revenge for the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner in Staten Island and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.
Ramos was the older partner. Raised in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, he lived close to his childhood home.
He and his wife raised two sons, the eldest now attending college in Maine.
The youngest, Jaden, was just 13, and accompanied his mother Saturday to Woodhull Hospital upon hearing the tragic news.
"This is the worst day of my life,'' the young teen posted on Facebook.''
In a second post he said, "Today I had to say bye to my father.
Officer Wenjian LiuPhoto: NYPD
Officer Rafael RamosPhoto: NYPD
"It's horrible that someone gets shot dead just for being a police officer. Everyone says they hate cops, but they are the people they call for help.
"I will always love you and I will never forget you. RIP Dad,'' the grief-stricken boy wrote.
Juan Rodriguez, president of the 75th precinct community council, was a longtime friend of Ramos from the neighborhood.
"He was a good guy. He was a religious man. He was not only a police officer,'' Rodriguez said of his friend.
"This guy was in the community. He was a community guy. He'd go to the church with his family. He'd go to the pizzeria. A regular father.
"You wouldn't even know he was a police officer because he wasn't the type of guy to be flashing around, 'Hey, I'm a cop.' You wouldn't even know it.''
Rodriguez said his pal became a police officer "because he wanted to serve the people.
"That was his passion; that's what he loved doing.''
He said Ramos was deeply religious, and four years ago had considered becoming one of the clergymen on call for cops.
But he eventually decided to join the NYPD as a school safety officer and managed to work his way up to becoming a cop.
"I know when he was out there he was doing his job as a police officer and also as a religious man,'' Rodriguez said, his voice breaking.
"His family is very hurt.''
A colleague of Ramos, who asked that his name not be printed, described the slain officer as "a nice guy, willing to do whatever he had to, whatever he was told to do.
This is the worst day of my life… Today I had to say bye to my father. - Officer Ramos' son Jaden on Facebook
"He was still new, eager, and willing to work harder than this city deserves."
Liu, 32, also of Brooklyn, had married his sweetheart just two months before his death.
Liu's wife, too, rushed to Woodhull after learning of her husband's assassination.
Insiders described her as virtually paralyzed with grief.
Although shunned by most of the hundreds of cops who kept vigil at the hospital, Mayor de Blasio did manage to approach the two families.
"We met the parents of Officer Liu, the woman he recently married," the mayor said.
"We met the wife of Officer Ramos. We met his 13-year-old son, who couldn't comprehend what happened to his father," the mayor said.
He described both officers as "heroes."
Additional reporting by Laura Italiano
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