[ad_1]
It was nonetheless darkish on Sunday morning when a person who the authorities mentioned had simply killed 4 members of the family at their Queens house set the home on fireplace and slipped out.
The person, Courtney Gordon, 38, had fatally stabbed the victims, the police mentioned: an 11-year-old lady; a 12-year-old boy; a lady, 44; and a person in his 30s. He had additionally stabbed one other relative, a 61-year-old lady, who survived with crucial wounds. Now, he carried baggage as he left the home, on a brief cul-de-sac in a Far Rockaway neighborhood the place many properties had been embellished with Christmas lights and wreaths.
He had solely taken a number of steps when two Police Division officers approached him. They instructed Mr. Gordon they had been responding to a name that they had acquired round 5:10 a.m. from a younger lady who mentioned her cousin was killing her household, the chief of division, Jeffrey Maddrey, mentioned at a information convention on Sunday morning.
Mr. Gordon’s response was swift: He pulled out a steak knife and stabbed one officer within the head, the opposite within the neck, Chief Maddrey mentioned. An officer screamed, “Drop!” in keeping with the proprietor of a close-by constructing whose safety digital camera system captured an audio recording of the incident. Then got here the sound of gunfire.
One of many officers had shot Mr. Gordon. He was taken to a hospital, the place he was pronounced useless.
What set Mr. Gordon off was unclear, the police mentioned on the information convention at Jamaica Hospital Medical Middle in Queens, the place the officers had been being handled for non-life-threatening wounds.
The police didn’t say whether or not he had a historical past of psychological well being issues. A girl who recognized herself as his sister mentioned he had struggled with psychological sickness, together with despair.
Mr. Gordon had proven indicators of violence earlier than. In February 2021, he was arrested and charged with strangulation in a home violence case within the Bronx, police officers mentioned. Correction Division data confirmed that he had by no means been jailed in New York Metropolis.
That very same yr, Mr. Gordon moved out of the Bronx to reside along with his paternal aunt, Christine Gordon, in Far Rockaway, his mom, Hazel Bryden, mentioned in an interview. He had been staying along with his aunt and her household on the home on Seashore twenty second Avenue for at the least two years, she mentioned. Ms. Gordon was the member of the family who survived the rampage, Ms. Bryden and household associates mentioned.
On Sunday morning, officers discovered the 11-year-old lady mendacity in entrance of the home. Inside, the hearth had unfold to the lounge and the lobby, Chief Maddrey mentioned. Firefighters put out the blaze, permitting the officers to enter; they discovered the boy, the person and the 44-year-old lady in two bedrooms on the again.
By midday, police vehicles lined Seashore twenty second Avenue. Few folks had been exterior, apart from information digital camera crews, who stood within the rain to look at as emergency staff wheeled stretchers with physique luggage down the driveway of the home and loaded them right into a van.
By then, Ms. Bryden had heard in regards to the killings. Till Sunday, nothing had appeared amiss, she mentioned. Ms. Gordon by no means shared any considerations along with her throughout their frequent phone calls.
Mr. Gordon additionally didn’t inform his mom about any rigidity within the house. On Saturday, she mentioned, he texted her that he liked her. “And I texted him again and instructed him, ‘I like you too, son,’” Ms. Bryden mentioned.
“It’s a catastrophe, a catastrophe. I simply can’t take it,” she added, sobbing. “He killed 4 of them — a bit boy, a bit lady. He killed them.”
Eliza Fawcett and Nate Schweber contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed analysis.
[ad_2]
Source link
