According to officials, four of the dead belonged to the same family and were killed by relatives.
New York police said Sunday around 5 a.m. local time (11 a.m. BST) they were called to a home in the Far Rockaway neighborhood by one of the victims, “a young woman who said a relative was killing her family members.” family,” New York City Police Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Madre said Sunday.
Upon arrival, a patrol found a house on fire and a man in front of the house, dragging a suitcase. The 38-year-old man then took out a knife and attacked two officers, cutting one of them in the neck and chest and the other in the head. One of the officers opened fire and hit the suspect. All three were taken to hospital, where the assailant was pronounced dead on arrival.
Other officers approached the burning house and found an 11-year-old girl lying in front of the house. Despite being sent to hospital, the latter did not survive her injuries.
Firefighters extinguished the house fire. Law enforcement officers entered the home and found four more victims. One of them, a 61-year-old woman, is alive and hospitalized in critical condition. A 12-year-old boy, a 30-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman died.
The first elements of the investigation show that the victims were killed with a knife. Autopsies will be requested to determine the cause of death, said Jeffrey Madre of the New York Police Department.
The suspect, a Bronx borough resident, was known to police for a previous domestic violence case.
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