Police officials are getting a clearer picture of the man who ambushed and killed NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu on Saturday.

Officials say Isamaaiyl Brisnely had a long criminal record, hatred for police and was apparently mentally unstable.

Brinsley's mother tells police her son had a very troubled childhood, and she was afraid of him. She says Brinsley tried to hang himself last year and over the past decade he has racked up 19 arrests in Georgia and Ohio.

She says he wasn't diagnosed with any mental illnesses, but that the signs were always there.