Obama Says He's Outraged Over "Senseless" Police Murders

President Obama expressed outrage over the killing of two New York police officers Sunday, calling the police commissioners of New York and Philadelphia to lend support for law enforcement.

Obama called New York Police Commissioner William Bratton to give condolences for the two police officers shot and killed in an ambush in Brooklyn Saturday.

In the call, the president urged Americans to reject violence and turn to "prayer, patient dialogue, and sympathy for the friends and family of the fallen," said White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz.

Later in the day, Obama called Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who co-chairs the president's task force on policing and who has voiced concern about the danger that some of the more vitriolic anti-police protests pose to officers, USA Today  reports.