'Madman' fatally stabs 4 family members, injures 2 officers in Queens, New York

Sarah Al-Arshani, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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New York police fatally shot a man Sunday after he allegedly stabbed four family members, set a building on fire, and stabbed two police officers.

Police were called to a home in the Far Rockaway section of Queens around 5:10 a.m., when they received a 911 call from a woman who said her cousin was killing her family, New York Police Department Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey said during a news conference.

Two officers who were patrolling the area responded to the call, and when they arrived noticed a man leaving with luggage. They stopped him, and after an approximate 10-second exchange, he took out a knife and began stabbing them.

One officer was struck in the neck and the other in the face, Maddrey said. One of the officers then drew his gun and shot the suspect, identified as Courtney Gordon, 38. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said Gordon appeared to be in the home visiting family from the Bronx. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

According to Kenny, Gordon had one prior arrest for strangulation and domestic violence that took place in the Bronx.

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Additional officers responded to assist, and police found an 11-year-old girl with stab wounds outside the home. She later died in the hospital. Officers could not immediately enter the home because the living room and foyer area were set ablaze.

Police said they believe Gordon lit a couch on fire before leaving the home. New York City firefighters who responded to put out the fire found three others fatally stabbed insde; a 12-year-old boy, a 44-year-old woman and a man in his 30s.

A 61-year-old woman was also found with multiple stab wounds and transported to Mount Sanai Hospital where she remains in critical condition.

This photo provided by New York City Police Dept. shows a knife recovered at a crime scene in the far Rockaway section of the Queens borough of New York on Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023. A man killed four relatives, including two children, in a knife attack at their New York City home early Sunday, then set the building on fire and stabbed two police officers before one of them fatally shot him, officials said. (NYPD via AP) ORG XMIT: NYHO101

Both officers stabbed in the incident were taken to Jamaica hospital and are expected to recover. Maddrey said they were stabbed with a typical kitchen steak knife. That knife was the only weapon recovered at the scene, and investigators are now trying to figure out if it's the same weapon used to harm all the victims.

“This scene was chaos. Multiple victims, a house on fire, and a madman on a rampage, on a mission,” Patrick Hendry, the head of the New York Police Department’s police union, said at the press conference.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Queens stabbing: NYC 'madman on a rampage' kills 4, injures 2 officers