NEW YORK: A man with a knife killed four members of the same family and wounded two police officers before being shot dead himself, authorities in New York said Sunday.
Police have yet to determine the man´s motive but the rampage appeared to stem from a domestic dispute.
Officers were sent to a home in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of the Queens borough early Sunday after a woman called the emergency number to say that a cousin was killing members of her family, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters.
Upon arrival, two officers saw a man leaving the house and approached him. The 38-year-old suspect then lunged at them with a knife before one of the officers opened fire, killing him.
Outside the house, the officers found a gravely wounded 11-year-old child, who was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.
A fire in the house temporarily prevented police from entering, but once they did they discovered three other victims -- a 12-year-old child, a woman of 44 and a man in his 30s, according to Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
Another victim, a 61-year-old woman, was hospitalized with serious stab wounds.
The injured officers were also hospitalized but were expected to recover.
Police said the suspect, who lived in New York´s Bronx borough, had been arrested previously over a domestic violence incident.