Five family members have died, including one deceased perpetrator who police say is from the Edenwald section of The Bronx and is a cousin to some of the other deceased family members, following a multiple stabbing incident, residential fire, and police-involved shooting in the Far Rockaway section of Queens in the early hours of Sunday morning, Dec. 3. Two police officers and another family member were also injured during the incident.

 

During a press conference held later on Sunday, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey was joined by NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny, NYPD Chief John Chell, Kevin Williams, NYPD assistant chief of Patrol Borough Queens South, the department’s chief surgeon, doctors from Jamaica hospital, and Pat Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, and provided an overview of the incident.

 

Maddrey said that at around 5:10 a.m. on Sunday morning, at 467 Beach 22nd Street, situated at the end of a driveway adjacent to four to five other homes in a residential area of the Far Rockaway section of Queens, officers received a 911 call regarding an assault in progress. “Basically, a young female caller stated that her cousin is killing her family members,” Maddrey said. “Two of our members from the 101 Precinct, a 28-year-veteran, and a 16-year-veteran in a marked vehicle doing patrol responded to the location.”

 

Maddrey continued, “The officers, they pull up to the driveway. As they get to the driveway, they see a male walking out. He’s carrying luggage. Our officers asked the male a question or two. That encounter lasted about 10 seconds, when the male draws a knife on the officers. He stabbed one officer in the neck / chest area. He strikes the second officer in the head. Our 28-year-veteran is able to withdraw his firearm. He’s able to discharge his weapon to stop the assault and he was able to stop the perpetrator.”

 

Maddrey said the two officers were transported to Jamaica hospital in critical but stable condition, and the perpetrator was also hospitalized but was pronounced deceased on arrival. He said additional responding NYPD and EMS units arrived to assist with the transfer of the injured to hospital and continue the investigation. He said officers discovered a young girl, aged 11, laying in front of the house who died from her injuries (stab wounds).

 

“They were not able to enter the home because there was a fire inside the living room, the foyer area,” Maddrey said. “FDNY responded. They were able to put out the fire.” He said a 61-year-old woman found at the home was also removed to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in critical condition.

 

“Once the fire was extinguished, and we were able to get into the apartment, we found another three victims, all dead,” Maddrey said, adding that so far, police believe all the victims died from stab wounds and that the investigation was ongoing.

 

He said that the weapon used to injure the officers was a typical kitchen steak knife and was the only weapon recovered from the scene. He added that their investigation will determine if this was the same weapon that was used to injure all the victims.

 

Kenny confirmed that the deceased perpetrator has been identified as Courtney Gordon, 38, from the Edenwald section of The Bronx. “He has one prior arrest, and that was for a strangulation domestic violence incident that took place in The Bronx,” he said. “He has nothing any history or any contact with the police that bring us back to this location on Beach 22 Street. It seems he’s a Bronx resident that was visiting family members at this location.”

 

Norwood News later followed up with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office to obtain details of the prior DV case. A representative for the DA replied, saying, “The case is sealed.” It’s possible this is in order to protect the identity of the victim. We asked for the reason and will update this story upon receipt of any further information.

 

Asked if police knew what triggered the rampage, Kenny said they just had the 911 caller who was at stationhouse being interviewed, and who they said may be able to shed some light on what occurred.

 

The victims were only identified by their ages and gender i.e. a 12-year-old boy, a 44-year-old woman, a man in his 30s found in the back bedrooms of the house, the 11-year-old girl who was found in front of location who police said was transported to Long Island Medical Center-Cohen, and the 61-year-old woman who was currently at Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition.

 

Of the perpetrator, Kenny added, “It seems that he lit the couch at the front of the location on fire as he was leaving.”

Maddrey added that on arrival at the location, the officers had asked the perpetrator, “Hey, did you hear anything? Do you know what’s going on?” He said the man sort of nodded before drawing his knife and immediately attacking both officers.

 

Police thanked the doctors and staff of Jamaica Hospital for the care shown to the two officers who they said are expected to survive. “But listen, these are two experienced police officers, a 28-year-veteran, a 16-year-veteran, working the midnight shift in the Rockaways,” Maddrey said. “I really have to commend them. They did an excellent job. You know, they could have easily let this person walk past him with his luggage. Instead they stopped, asked a couple of questions, tried to gain some intel before they walked right up in there. Unfortunately, they were met with the perpetrator in this incident. He went right at them.”

 

Hendry also said the PBA was truly thankful to the hospital staff. “This shows that police officers never know what they’re responding to, what’s awaiting for them on that scene,” he said. “This scene was chaos; multiple victims, a house on fire, and a madman on a rampage, on a mission, and thankful that these police officers showed up. Imagine what could have happened if these police officers weren’t there. This madman tried to kill, after he killed others, a New York City police officer.”

 

Hendry continued, “The skill that this police officer had, shooting and stopping the threat after he was being stabbed, unbelievable skill. I know both these police officers personally; an unbelievable job, true professionals, just great men who were doing their job, and again, thank God they were there. Those who say that police officers shouldn’t be out on our street. I say to them, thank God that these police officers responded. How many more victims could there have been if these skilled, professional police officers did not show up to this scene?”

 

On Monday, Dec. 4, police said the deceased were identified as Mikayla James, an 11-year-old girl, of 467 Beach 22 Street, Queens, NY, Suzette Taylor-Davis, a 44-year-old woman, also of  467 Beach 22 Street, Queens, NY, Rojaun Davis, a 12-year-old boy, also of 467 Beach 22 Street, Queens, NY, and Rickmon Davis, 34, also of 467 Beach 22 Street, Queens, NY.

They said the investigation is ongoing.

Local services for those affected by domestic or gender-based violence are available in The Bronx. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic or gender-based violence, call 311 and ask to be connected to a NYC Family Justice Center or walk-in Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call the NYC 24/7 Domestic Violence Hotline on 1-800-621-4673, or visit the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence for more information.

 

As reported, Freedom Youth NYC, located at Freedom Youth Family Justice Center in The Bronx, works with youth and adults in The Bronx and elsewhere, providing impartial support to victims of intimate partner violence. Their website is: https://freedomyouthnyc.com/.

 

If you are in immediate danger, if you can, dial 911.

 

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.

 

 

*David Greene contributed to this story.