Five dead, three injured in bloody Far Rock stabbing
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Five people are dead and three are wounded, including two cops, after a stabbing rampage in Far Rockaway on Sunday. NYPD via Associated Press
By Ryan Schwach
A violent and bloody stabbing spree in Far Rockaway on Sunday left the perpetrator and four others dead and three people, including two cops, injured.
The Sunday morning attack is still being investigated by police, who say they believe all the victims to be related.
According to the NYPD, on Sunday morning at around 5 a.m. officers from the 101st Precinct responded to a 911 call about an assault with a knife on Beach 22nd Street in Far Rockaway. Upon arrival at the residential block they found a man, now known to be 38-year-old Courtney Gordon, pulling luggage out of a home at 467 Beach 22nd Street.
Police questioned Gordon, who then drew a knife, stabbing one officer in the chest and neck and the other in the head, the cops claimed. One of the two officers pulled out his gun and shot and killed Gordon.
More cops soon arrived to the home, which had allegedly been set on fire by Gordon.
Outside the home, police found an 11-year-old girl and a 61-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds. Once they were able to get into the home, they found three other victims, a 44-year-old woman, 12-year-old boy and a man approximately in his 30's, all with stab wounds.
The 44-year-old woman, 12-year-old boy and the man in his 30’s were all pronounced dead at the scene, and the 11-year-old girl was later pronounced dead at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center.
The 61-year-old woman, who the Daily News reports is named Christine Watson, was taken to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital where she remains in critical condition as of this writing.
Gordon was pronounced dead at the hospital, and the two officers were taken to Jamaica Hospital where they are in critical but stable condition.
Police recovered what Chief Jeffrey Maddrey called a “typical kitchen steak knife,” at the scene.
Police also believe that all the stabbing victims are related, and that Gordon was visiting from the Bronx when the stabbing occurred.
Although a motive is not currently known, family members that spoke to reporters from the Daily News told the tabloid that Gordon had been in and out of homeless shelters and was experiencing mental health issues, but was taken in by 61-year-old Watson in the weeks leading up to the stabbing.
He had one prior arrest for a strangulation in a domestic violence incident in the Bronx.
The investigation is ongoing.
