A New York home was the scene of a family tragedy when a person stabbed four members of his family to death before attacking police who had no choice but to shoot him dead .
It was around 5:10 a.m. that authorities received a call from a young teenage girl who claimed her cousin was “killing her family members” at a multi-family home on 22nd Street in Queens.
Once they arrived on scene, the police saw the 38-year-old suspect – Courtney Gordon – who allegedly attacked them with a knife.
“As they pulled into the driveway, they saw a man coming out. He was carrying luggage. The officers asked the man a question or two, an encounter that lasted about 10 seconds, during which the man pointed a knife at (them). He stabbed one officer in the neck and chest and hit the second officer in the head,” Chief Jeffrey Maddrey of the New York Police Department said during a press briefing.
It was then that a police officer, with 28 years of experience behind his neck, shot the suspect dead. The latter was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
After subduing the suspect, the police had to wait for firefighters to come and put out a fire that was preventing them from entering the house. “It appears that (the suspect) set fire to an armchair in the entrance before leaving the scene,” said New York police chief inspector Joseph Kenny.
An 11-year-old girl was found unresponsive outside the home. The latter died of her injuries in hospital. Inside, police found three other victims dead, a 12-year-old boy, a 44-year-old woman and a man in his thirties. They were all stabbed to death, according to police.
Finally, another victim, a 61-year-old woman, was rescued and taken to hospital in critical condition. The injured police officers were also transported to hospital, but there is no fear for their lives.
The suspect had previously been arrested for domestic violence. Everything suggests that this man living in the Bronx was visiting his family at the time of the tragedy, according to Inspector Kenny.
The investigation continues.
