It was still dark on Sunday morning when a man who the authorities said had just killed four family members at their Queens home set the house on fire and slipped out.
The man, Courtney Gordon, 38, had fatally stabbed the victims, the police said: an 11-year-old girl; a 12-year-old boy; a woman, 44; and a man in his 30s. He had also stabbed another relative, a 61-year-old woman, who survived with critical wounds. Now, he carried luggage as he left the house, on a short cul-de-sac in a Far Rockaway neighborhood where many homes were decorated with Christmas lights and wreaths.
He had only taken a few steps when two Police Department officers approached him. They told Mr. Gordon they were responding to a call they had received around 5:10 a.m. from a young woman who said her cousin was killing her family, the chief of department, Jeffrey Maddrey, said at a news conference on Sunday morning.
Mr. Gordon’s response was swift: He pulled out a steak knife and stabbed one officer in the head, the other in the neck, Chief Maddrey said. An officer screamed, “Drop!” according to the owner of a nearby building whose security camera system captured an audio recording of the incident. Then came the sound of gunfire.
One of the officers had shot Mr. Gordon. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
What set Mr. Gordon off was unclear, the police said at the news conference at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, where the officers were being treated for non-life-threatening wounds.
The police did not say whether he had a history of mental health problems. A woman who identified herself as his sister said he had struggled with mental illness, including depression.
Mr. Gordon had shown signs of violence before. In February 2021, he was arrested and charged with strangulation in a domestic violence case in the Bronx, police officials said. Correction Department records showed that he had never been jailed in New York City.
That same year, Mr. Gordon moved out of the Bronx to live with his paternal aunt, Christine Gordon, in Far Rockaway, his mother, Hazel Bryden, said in an interview. He had been staying with his aunt and her family at the house on Beach 22nd Street for at least two years, she said. Ms. Gordon was the family member who survived the rampage, Ms. Bryden and family friends said.
On Sunday morning, officers found the 11-year-old girl lying in front of the house. Inside, the fire had spread to the living room and the foyer, Chief Maddrey said. Firefighters put out the blaze, allowing the officers to enter; they found the boy, the man and the 44-year-old woman in two bedrooms at the back.
By noon, police cars lined Beach 22nd Street. Few people were outside, except for news camera crews, who stood in the rain to watch as emergency workers wheeled stretchers with body bags down the driveway of the house and loaded them into a van.
By then, Ms. Bryden had heard about the killings. Until Sunday, nothing had seemed amiss, she said. Ms. Gordon never shared any concerns with her during their frequent telephone calls.
Mr. Gordon also did not tell his mother about any tension in the home. On Saturday, she said, he texted her that he loved her. “And I texted him back and told him, ‘I love you too, son,’” Ms. Bryden said.
“It’s a disaster, a disaster. I just can’t take it,” she added, sobbing. “He killed four of them — a little boy, a little girl. He killed them.”
Eliza Fawcett and Nate Schweber contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
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