FAR ROCKAWAY, Queens (PIX11) – Four people from the same family, including two children, were killed and another was critically injured in a stabbing in Queens Sunday, according to the NYPD.
Two police officers were also injured, according to authorities.
Police said the stabbings happened in Far Rockaway around 5 a.m. Two officers went to the scene at Beach 22nd Street after a frantic 911 call came in from a woman, who said her cousin was killing members of her family, according to authorities.
The officers saw a man carrying luggage leaving the home, police said.
"They could’ve easily let the person walk past them with the luggage. Instead, they stopped, asked a couple of questions, and tried to gain some intel before they walked in there," said NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey. "Unfortunately, they were met with the perpetrator in this incident. He went right at 'em."
One officer was slashed in the neck with a kitchen knife, while the other was stabbed in the head, according to authorities. Police said one of the officers then opened fire, killing the suspect, 38-year-old Courtney Gordon.
Other officers on the scene found a small fire set by Gordon inside the home where the stabbings happened, according to authorities. That's when officers found the five family members.
"So many lives lost," said Patrick Hendry, the NYC PBA president. "The whole family, wiped out. But today shows why we need our highly trained, highly skilled police officers."
Police said a 12-year-old boy, a 44-year-old woman and a man in his 30s were all pronounced dead at the scene. An 11-year-old girl was taken to the hospital, where she later died.
A 61-year-old woman remains in the hospital in critical condition, according to authorities. Both officers have since been released from the hospital.
Gordon had previously been arrested in connection with a domestic violence incident in the Bronx, where he's from, police said.
Investigators are trying to determine if the kitchen knife used to attack the officers is also the weapon used to attack his family, according to authorities.
