Report: Woman finds four family members, including baby and teen, shot dead
NEW YORK -- Four people, including a young child, were shot to death in a Brooklyn apartment on Wednesday, hours before students throughout New York City participated in walkouts to protest gun violence.
Investigators were trying to determine whether the deaths were three homicides and a suicide, according to police spokesman Stephen P. Davis. No suspects are being sought, police say.
A relative found their bodies around 5 a.m. at a high-rise complex, the Riverdale Osborne Towers. CBS New York reports the 53-year-old woman came home to find her husband, 57, dead in the bathroom and her 16-year-old son dead in a bedroom; in another bedroom, she reportedly found her 27-year-old son and his one-year-old daughter, both shot dead.
"She loved her family beyond love," neighbor Vanessa Swain told CBS New York. "To see someone that I see every day, to go through this now, I'm just numb."
Investigators said a firearm, bullets and shell casings were recovered from the scene and said they are checking surveillance video in the area as well as interviewing family members and witnesses. Police say they don't have a motive, but are working to determine one.
"I just want to give my sympathy and my heart goes out to this family," said NYPD Assistant Chief Jeffrey Maddrey. "The nature of this business, we deal with death and tragic scenes, but when it involves an infant, it's extremely tough."
Brownsville has long been one of New York City's most violent neighborhoods. Like other parts of the city, it has experienced a steep decline in crime in recent years. It's still one of the poorest parts of Brooklyn.
Young people in the U.S. walked out of class Wednesday to demand action on gun violence in what activists hoped would be the biggest demonstration of student activism yet in response to last month's massacre in Florida.
The New York City walkouts, which were among thousands being held across the U.S. and around the world, honored victims of last months' Florida school massacre.