NEW YORK CITY — A man killed four family members, including two children, at their Queens home in New York City and stabbed two police officers who then shot him dead on Sunday morning, officials said.
The suspect was identified as Courtney Gordon, a 38-year-old Bronx resident who had been visiting family at their home in the Far Rockaway neighborhood, police said. He was sent to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Among the victims were a 12-year old boy, a 44-year old woman, and a male in his 30s who were pronounced dead at the scene. An 11-year old girl was found in front of the house and transported to a hospital where she was later pronounced dead. Police said they were all suspected to have died from stab wounds. Their identities have not yet been released.
The two police officers, one stabbed in the neck and chest area, and another slashed in the head are expected to recover.
Another woman, 61, was injured in the attack. She is in critical condition after suffering from multiple stab wounds.
Police had received a call from a young woman who said her cousin was killing her family at about 5:10 A.M. on Sunday morning, officials said a press briefing.
When the officers pulled up to the driveway, they stopped to question Gordon, who was carrying a luggage bag, when he drew a knife and attacked the officers. One of the officers shot him dead, police said.
Additional police officers deployed to the scene weren’t immediately able to enter the home because of a fire that consumed the living room and foyer area. They believe Gordon had set the fire off after the deadly rampage. When fire officials had extinguished the fire, they found three of the victims dead inside.
“This scene was chaos. Multiple victims, a house on fire, and a mad man on a rampage, on a mission,” Patrick Hendry, the head of the New York Police Department’s police union, said at a media briefing later Sunday morning.
“The skill that this police officer had shooting and stopping the threat after he was being stabbed. Unbelievable skill,” he said.
