FAR ROCKAWAY, Queens (WABC) — Police say a man went on a stabbing rampage in a Queens home this morning, killing four people, including two kids, before attacking two responding police officers. The suspect was shot and killed by one of the officers.
About 5 a.m., officers received a 911 call about an assault in progress at a home on Beach 22nd Street in Far Rockaway. “A young female caller stated that her cousin is killing her family members,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a news conference describing the horrifying chain of events.
Officers on patrol responded to the location and approached a man they say was leaving the driveway of the residence with luggage.
Police say the man, Courtney Gordon, 38, encountered responding officers in the street and slashed two of them with a kitchen knife, before officers fatally shot him.
When officers arrived at the home, they found an 11-year-old girl lying on the ground outside the residence. She was taken to Cohen’s Children Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Officers say the man set fire to a couch in the living room, which made it difficult for them to enter the home until FDNY arrived.
Once the fire was extinguished, they entered the home and discovered three people dead with fatal stab wounds, including a 12-year-old boy, 44-year-old woman, and a 30-year-old man.
A 61-year-old woman, who suffered multiple stab wounds, was taken to Mount Sinai in critical condition.
The two NYPD officers slashed were taken to Jamaica Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police said the officers were stabbed with a typical kitchen steak knife, and they were seeking to determine if that was the weapon used in the attack.
During the news conference after the incident, officials say Gordon, who has one prior arrest for strangulation in a domestic violence incident, is believed to have been visiting family at the residence.
