Man stabs four family members to death in New York
A man in New York stabs four people to death with a steak knife. An eleven-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old boy are among the victims. A cousin of the attacker calls the police. The perpetrator is caught and killed. The motive appears to have been a family quarrel.
In the US metropolis of New York, a man has stabbed four family members to death and also injured two police officers. Two police officers encountered the 38-year-old alleged perpetrator on Sunday morning in a house in the Far Rockaway neighborhood in the New York borough of Queens after a cousin alerted the police, explained the head of the New York Police Department (NYPD), Jeffrey Maddrey. The man then attacked the police officers with a steak knife, whereupon one of them shot him dead.
The motive for the crime has yet to be clarified, but there are indications of a domestic dispute. At the scene of the crime, the police found a seriously injured eleven-year-old child in front of the house. Despite being rushed to hospital, the child died.
According to the police, there was initially a fire in the house itself. After the police entered the house, they discovered the bodies of the three other victims: a 44-year-old woman, a man in his 30s and a 12-year-old child. A 61-year-old woman had suffered serious stab wounds and was being treated in hospital.
Teenager dialed 911
The police received the call from a teenage girl who is related to the alleged perpetrator. She asked for help on the phone and said her cousin was killing family members, the New York Daily News reported. When the officers arrived at the scene, the perpetrator was trying to leave the house with luggage. After the police officers confronted the man with questions, the man suddenly attacked the two cops with a knife and injured them too, Maddrey said at a press conference.
One of the two was injured in the neck and chest area, the other in the head. A 28-year-old police officer finally shot the man. He died shortly afterwards in hospital. Officers found the body of a child directly in front of the house. Three other victims were discovered in the house.
According to the police, the two injured officers are in hospital and their lives are not in danger. The crime occurred in the Far Rockaway neighborhood, south of John F. Kennedy Airport - about an hour's drive from downtown Manhattan. The police are now hoping that the girl who called 911 will be able to shed more light on the crime. "Maybe she can shed some light on the case," they said. The perpetrator was probably no stranger to the New York police: He was reportedly arrested for domestic violence less than a year ago.
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Source: www.ntv.de
