2 Dead After Armed Suspect Emerges From Burning Far Rockaway Home, Shot by NYPD Following Explosion
FAR ROCKAWAY, N.Y. — Two people are dead and a 33-year-old armed suspect is in critical but stable condition after a family shooting in Far Rockaway escalated into a massive explosion, house fire, and police shooting Saturday afternoon, according to the NYPD.
During a press briefing Saturday evening, police said officers from the NYPD's 101st Precinct responded to a home on Ocean Crest Boulevard after receiving a 911 call reporting shots fired inside the residence.
When officers arrived, they encountered a woman, identified as the suspect’s wife, outside the home. She told police she had heard gunshots from inside a room within the residence, saw a body lying on a bed, fled the home, and immediately called 911.
Based on the information provided during a Saturday afternoon press conference at the scene, officials say patrol officers requested the NYPD Emergency Service Unit (ESU) and established a perimeter around the residence while attempting to make contact with the suspect. The man did not make any attempts to communicate with responding officers, according to officials.
According to police, ESU arrived at approximately 12:12 p.m. As officers prepared to make entry into the home around 12:15 p.m., a large explosion erupted from inside the residence, engulfing the structure in flames and quickly spreading fire to neighboring homes.
Police said that within 15 to 20 seconds of the explosion, the suspect emerged from the burning home wearing a tactical vest containing additional ammunition and carrying a shotgun.
Officers repeatedly ordered the suspect to drop the weapon and surrender, police said. When he refused, officers discharged their firearms, striking him.
The suspect, identified by police as 33-year-old Keegan Thompson, was taken into custody and transported to Jamaica Hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition.
Investigators later discovered two deceased family members inside the home. Police said the exact causes of death remain under investigation and will be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
More than a dozen people were also injured during the incident, primarily as a result of the explosion and the rapidly spreading fire. The extent of those injuries has not yet been released.
Police said Thompson has no prior criminal history and no documented history of mental illness with the NYPD.
The investigation remains ongoing.
