Port Authority officer shoots sister, mother in NYC apparent murder-suicide, police sources say
A law enforcement officer fatally shot his sister and injured his mother before turning the gun on himself Thursday at a New York City apartment building, police sources said.
Investigators were trying to determine a motive for the apparent murder-suicide at 2500 Johnson Avenue in Spuyten Duyvil, the Bronx, where two people were found dead and one was rushed to the hospital.
Police sources said the shooter was with the Port Authority Police Department for 20 years, most recently stationed at LaGuardia Airport.
3 shooting victims found inside apartment
NYPD responded to the building after sources said someone at the the reception desk called 911 and reported multiple shots fired at around 8 a.m.
Officers entered a first-floor apartment and found a 55-year-old man with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and a 59-year-old woman, believed to be his sister, shot in the head. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers also found an 86-year-old woman, believed to their mother, shot in the face. She was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
Two firearms were recovered inside the apartment.
At this time, the NYPD has not released the names of the three people who were shot.
Neighbors in shock after shooting
Bronx residents were in shock after the shooting in the section along the Hudson River, just north of Upper Manhattan.
"I've never heard of anything happening like this in the neighborhood. It's just astonishing," Elise Langan said.
"The town is so quiet and safe. Every time something happens, it's always huge, because nothing really happens here," Arielle Spanier, another neighbor, said.
Jane Burbank spoke fondly of the 59-year-old woman who died. She said her neighbor lived there for years and that her mother recently moved in with her.
"She had nieces and nephews. She had a big family," Burbank said. "She was a wonderful person, she was full of life. She loved to dance, she loved to get people together, she loved to cook, she loved to eat. She loved to travel, and was looking forward to her retirement so she could travel more."
