'They walk into sheer terror': Man stabs and kills 4 relatives, including children, before attacking responding officers

A New York man stabbed and killed four relatives before assaulting officers who had responded to the residence in Queens.

NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a media briefing that police responded to a call at about 5 a.m. on Sunday morning from the home in Far Rockaway.

"A young female caller stated that her cousin is killing her family members," Maddrey said.

When police arrived, they encountered 38-year-old Courtney Gordon walking away from the home while carrying luggage. Gordon allegedly stabbed both officers with a kitchen knife before they shot and killed him.

Police found an 11-year-old girl who was lying on the ground outside the home. She was transported to Long Island Medical Center-Cohen where she was pronounced dead.

The man had allegedly set a couch on fire in the home, and police had to wait for the fire department to respond and put out the fire before they could search the home.

Inside, they found three people dead from stab wounds. They were described as 12-year-old boy, a 44-year-old woman, and a 30-year-old man. Another victim described as a 61-year-old woman was taken to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in critical condition.

Investigators were able to recover the kitchen knife outside the home.

The two injured officers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and later released.

Maddrey praised the two officers.

"Think about it, they went through their whole night, probably went through many nights like this, they walk into sheer terror, they're walking into a take their lives and tried to kill them and who just killed an innocent family," Maddrey said.

Officials said Gordon had been previously arrested for strangulation in a domestic violence incident.

Relatives said that Gordon had been in mental decline for several months before the incident and had been kicked out of the home of his relative because of his irrational behavior. They said he refused to receive treatment.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

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