Bodycam footage shows the shocking moment a homeless man stabbed two NYPD officers just minutes after murdering a family of four with the same knife.
Courtney Gordon, 38, carried out the shooting spree in Far Rockaway, Queens, in the early morning hours of December 3 before being shot and killed by police officers.
The stabber stabbed four family members before setting fire to their home and stabbing the two responding officers – Richard Gonzalez and his partner Decio.
While responding to a 911 call at 467 Beach 22nd Street, officers encountered Gordon standing in front of the property and began questioning him.
NYPD Chief Jeff Madrey said police were unable to enter the home because the suspect left the house with a suitcase and started the fire.
Courtney Gordon, pictured, murdered four relatives – two of them children – before she was shot dead by police in Queens on December 2nd
As officers questioned him, Gordon pulled a knife from his back pocket with his right hand and began stabbing the officers
As officers questioned him, Gordon pulled a knife from his back pocket with his right hand and began stabbing the officers.
“Are you calling the police?” an officer asked Gordon. 'You live here? Where do you live?'
“I’m trying to go somewhere,” Gordon replies before lunging at the officer with his knife.
Gordon was killed in the ensuing altercation by one of the officers, who had been stabbed seconds earlier.
According to police, Officer Decio was stabbed in the left side of his neck and Officer Gonzalez was stabbed in his left temple.
Officer Decio fired five shots at Gordon. He was transported to Nassau University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The officers were taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and treated for their injuries.
It later emerged that Gordon had stabbed five members of his family on the property before his encounter with officers.
Police have released the photo of the knife a man used to stab four family members before setting their house on fire and stabbing two police officers
Bloody fingerprints can be seen on the front door of a queen's home where a man was stabbed
City workers are recovering bodies from a Queens home where a man allegedly carried out a knife attack
The victims included two children, an 11-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy.
The 11-year-old girl reportedly lay in a pool of blood outside the house before being taken to hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
The other victims included a 44-year-old woman and a man in his 30s.
A 61-year-old woman was seriously injured and is being treated for multiple stab wounds.
Gordon was reportedly a homeless man who was invited by his aunt to live with her family.
A knife used by the killer fell to the ground after the bloodbath, and a body bag was also rolled from the scene.
Christine Watson – his 61-year-old aunt – was also stabbed but survived, according to the New York Daily News. She is said to have invited Gordon to stay with her after his marriage failed and he became homeless.
His mother said in December: “I spoke to him yesterday. “He just said to me, 'Mommy, I love you,' I said, 'I love you too, son' – and then I get the news.”
His sister blames the mental health system for her brother's decline and says she tried repeatedly to get him help
Gordon – a father of three – had spent the past year in and out of homeless shelters following the breakup of his marriage and the loss of his job
During the police operation, three victims were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth person stabbed died shortly afterwards and three others were taken to a local hospital
“My aunt took him in because she felt sorry for him because he was telling her he was trying to get his life together,” Gordon's sister, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the New York Daily News at the time.
Gordon – a father of three – had spent the past year in and out of homeless shelters following the breakup of his marriage and the loss of his job.
She said he was “suffering deeply from depression and mental illness.”
“I knew it was going to be bad. I wanted to tell her that this is bigger than us and let him go back to the shelter, but no one would listen to me. She took him in. There is no reason for that.'
“He loses his wife, he loses his happy home, he was gone,” she continued. 'He lost his job. He just lost it.'
His sister also blames the mental health system for her brother's decline and said she tried repeatedly to get him help.
“You tell me he’s a grown man.” [and] Because of his age, I could not sign the consent and give him the treatment,” she said. “I really tried because I know he wasn’t stable.”
She added that he told her he would try to get a job while her aunt helped him.
“My aunt, she’s a sweetheart,” his sister said. “She's a wonderful person.” “I didn't think something like this would happen,”
Regardless of what he has become, his sister wants people to know that her brother's demons have destroyed a once decent man.
“He was a good person. “He was happy,” she said. “I just want everyone to know that mental illness is really serious. It really is.”