In a News 12 Connecticut exclusive, a Bridgeport court official who was friends with one of the slain NYPD officers spoke publicly Saturday for the first time about the murders.

Bridgeport Sheriff David Goodman says he met NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu when he mistakenly parked in a no-parking zone in Brooklyn. Liu gave Goodman a warning and a handshake. "He was a good cop," says Goodman. Their friendship grew from there.

Goodman says Liu took his work home with him, but only the good parts. "The dignity and the pride and the respect and the honor of him working, that's what he took home with him," says Goodman.

Goodman said the news of Liu's murder hurt. Liu and his police partner, Officer Rafael Ramos, were ambushed by gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley as they sat in their patrol car in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn on Dec. 20. Brinsley, whose family said he suffered from mental illness, then ran to a subway station and fatally shot himself.

Earlier, Brinsley had shot his ex-girlfriend, Shaneka Thompson, in Baltimore, according to authorities. She remains in serious condition.

Goodman says he visited Liu's family a few hours after Liu was shot and had a difficult time fighting back tears. "It's not easy," he says. "It hurts real bad."

Goodman plans to attend Liu's funeral. Ramos' funeral was held a week after his death in the Glendale section of Queens. An estimated 25,000 mourners and police officers from across the country attended the funeral. Vice President Joe Biden, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani were among the attendees.

Bridgeport activist Tony Barr condemns the killing of both officers, but he urges people not to lose sight of the need for what he calls more responsible law enforcement.

"Change has to come through the police department," says Barr. "The police department created this problem across the nation; they need to fix it."

For Goodman, he is just mourning his friend. "Everybody has the right to be mad, but now to go take the life of somebody else, it doesn't make any sense," he says.