Why? When it comes to horrific acts of violence, it's often the most important question with the most elusive answers.

It's a question law enforcement in Central New York have been trying to comprehend since the fatal shooting of Syracuse Police Officer Michael Jensen and Onondaga County Sheriff's Lieutenant Michael Hoosock.

It's something that we may never be able to completely understand, but the Onondaga County district attorney is now speaking about what law enforcement officials have learned about alleged deceased shooter Christopher Murphy.

Detectives from the Syracuse Police Department and Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office found racist and antisemitic imagery saved onto Murphy’s devices and printed in his room, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said.

On April 14, Murphy, 33, fatally shot Jensen, 29, of Syracuse, who had served on the force for nearly three years, and Hoosock, 37, of Clay, a veteran deputy and volunteer firefighter. Investigators haven’t been able to find a concrete reason why Murphy ambushed the two law enforcement officers, but they’ve learned more about who he was as a person. 

“On his phone, he had a whole slew of racist, pro-Nazi, antisemitic memes, articles, pictures, some of which he printed out," said Fitzpatrick. 

Fitzpatrick said the new evidence uncovered a raging hate that Murphy had festering in him for a long time. 

He says Murphy was a paranoid, disturbed man. With cocaine and alcohol in his system, investigators believe Murphy was paranoid officers wanted to take his guns the night officers showed up to apprehend him following an attempted traffic stop.

“It's clearly, you know, learned behavior," he said. "We're not born with these prejudices. It's somehow in his, you know, pathetic existence. He started to blame, you know, other people for all his problems.”

That night Murphy used a Springfield AR-15 with a 40-round magazine, an amount that is illegal in New York. When investigators entered his parent’s home where he lived, they confiscated more than 15 guns. Fitzpatrick believes Murphy becoming violent was a matter of when, not if. 

“If he had not killed Mike Jensen and Hooch that night, he clearly was going to explode into some act of violence in the future," said Fitzpatrick. 

Fitzpatrick noted that Murphy didn’t seem to be connected to any hate groups. They also haven’t found evidence that he was treated for a mental illness in the past. The investigation is still ongoing.