Woman sings Christmas carols at shrine to fallen NYPD officers

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT (WABC) -- Police officers from around the country are expected to start arriving Friday for the wake and funeral of one of the two NYPD officers who were killed last weekend in Brooklyn.

Rafael Ramos and Wen Jian Liu were shot in their patrol car Saturday by a man who later shot himself. More than 25,000 are expected at Saturday's funeral for officer Ramos.

In a holiday season that for so many has been so badly out of tune, Christine Kim stood for hours at the shrine to Ramos and Liu, serenading New York's finest.

"We are very safe, even when we are sleeping - they are not sleep, they working, you know? So police man job is really hard," said Kim.

On Christmas night, the Ramos family prayed at the memorial and walked a line of officers, thanking every one.

"This family is destroyed - wow, it's just crazy," said family spokesman Juan Rodriguez.

Investigators said the shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, was an emotionally disturbed loner, who started off his rampage by shooting an ex-girlfriend in Baltimore. He also posted online threats to police and made references to high-profile cases of unarmed black men killed by white police officers.

The killings ramped up emotions in the already tense national debate over police conduct. Since Ramos and Liu were killed, police in New York said they've arrested six people accused of threatening officers. A seventh man was arrested Thursday on gun charges after a bystander overheard him making threats against police officers and talking about guns in his home.

The wake for Ramos will be held from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Christ Tabernacle Church on Myrtle Avenue in Glendale. There is a memorial service Friday at 7 p.m. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the same location before interment at Cypress Hills Cemetery.

Ramos celebrated his 40th birthday earlier this month. He had joined the NYPD in 2012 after working as a school security officer.

The lifelong Brooklyn resident was married with two sons: a 13-year-old who is in middle school and one who attends Bowdoin College in Maine.

Liu's funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.

The Silver Shield Foundation, a charity founded by the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, has set aside $40,000 for the education of Ramos' sons. Bowdoin College said it will cover Ramos' older son's education costs as long as he remains a student there.

The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a charity created after 9/11, says it will pay off the home mortgages of the two slain officers.

Wake and funeral related closures:

On Friday, beginning at noon and lasting until 10 p.m., Myrtle Avenue between Fresh Pond Road and Cooper Avenue will be closed, and there will be no parking.

Additionally, there will be no parking on Central Avenue between Myrtle Avenue and 73rd Place and Otto Road between Cypress Hills Street and 69th Place.

On Saturday, beginning at 7 a.m. and lasting until 1 p.m., Myrtle Avenue between Fresh Pond Road and Cooper Avenue, 67th Street between Myrtle Avenue and Cooper Avenue, and 67th Place between Myrtle Avenue and Cooper Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic.

There will be no parking, and pedestrian traffic will be limited.

Additionally, there will be no parking on Central Avenue between Myrtle Avenue and 73rd Place, Otto Road between Cypress Hills Street and 69th Place, and Metropolitan Avenue between Fresh Pond Road and 73rd Place.

Meanwhile, JetBlue has announced it will offer free flights to law enforcement agencies wanting to send representatives to attend the funeral.