Queens man in custody after stabbing and possible poisoning leaves 1 dead, 3 critical

One man is in custody in a deadly incident in Queens, New York, on Thursday morning that features a bloody pair of scissors and a possible poisoning, according to law enforcement officials.

The suspect’s 72-year-old father was killed and three other family members were critically injured, according to NYPD Assistant Chief Joe Kenny.

The father was found dead on the bathroom floor with multiple stab wounds sthroughout his body, Kenny said. A pair of scissors was seen in the hallway, but it’s undetermined if that was the murder weapon, Kenny added.

The suspect’s mother, brother and brother’s wife are being treated by doctors at a nearby hospital and are expected to survive, Kenny said. He said the three family members were found “unconscious in the apartment, laying on a mattress inside the living room.”

According to preliminary information provided by a senior law enforcement official, there were three water bottles filled to a certain extent containing liquid not believed to be water. It appeared all three had been drunk from, according to the official.

Toxicology will determine if they ingested something, Kenny told reporters. No elevated carbon monoxide levels were found and the officials cleared the apartment of any airborne agents or chemicals, he said.

Authorities were called to the scene by a neighbor who reported an “erratic” emotionally disturbed person in the hallway, Kenny said.

When police arrived they discovered a 30-year-old man with blood on his hands and feet, who claimed he “stabbed his father,” according to the senior law enforcement official.

Kenny described the man as an “emotionally disturbed person,” and said he was transported to a local hospital for a psych evaluation and is in police custody. He said there is no history of domestic violence or of calls about an emotionally disturbed person to that address.