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

Published: 18:00 EST, 14 July 2014 | Updated: 18:28 EST, 14 July 2014

A New Jersey man who murdered a police officer in cold blood over the weekend astonishingly is being hailed as a hero by members of the community who have erected a make-shift shrine - complete with candles and empty liquor bottles - in his honor.

Lawrence Campbell was fatally shot by police after he gunned down 23-year-old rookie Jersey City police Officer Melvin Santiago outside of a Walgreen's pharmacy early Sunday morning.

Even more astounding, Campbell's wife says she thinks he should have killed more police officers.

'That's how I feel. God forgive me, but that's how I feel,' Angelique Campbell told News 12 New Jersey at the memorial. '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.'

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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.'

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop called the memorial for a cowardly cop-killer 'disgusting.'

Santiago died instantly early Sunday morning after Lawrence Campbell, 27, took the gun from an armed security guard at a Walgreen’s and shot the officer before he could even get out of his squad car. Campbell was gunned down seconds later by cops on the scene.

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.

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, told the New York Post.

'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.

'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.

Reports differ as to whether Santiago was driving or a passenger, but what is clear is that he was shot as he was about to exit the vehicle.

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.

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 shoo

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read full article at source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2692234/Disgusting-Friends-relatives-New-Jersey-cop-killer-create-shrine-candles-liquor-bottles-commemorate-cold-blooded-killer.html