Early on the morning of December 3rd, a deranged man in Far Rockaway fully snapped. Leaving four family members hacked to bits, as well as one wounded senior and two wounded cops behind, it was a nasty scene.
Rushing to the Queens home after a young girl called to report the man was killing her family members, she escaped by jumping through a window. Later identified as the caller’s cousin, 38-year-old Courtney Gordon had grabbed luggage and was trying to leave by the time officers arrived.
Trying to defuse the situation, officers attempted to talk to the man for roughly 10 seconds before Gordon lost it on them, stabbing one in the neck, and the other in the head. One of them was able to draw his pistol and fire, killing Gordon. A 28-year veteran of the NYPD, the officer made a commendable shot and was a credit to the badge.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry put it simply, “This scene was chaos; multiple victims, a house on fire, and a madman on a rampage, on a mission.” With a blaze raging inside the house, officers had to wait for it to be extinguished before they could enter to try and save others left behind. Initial reports indicate he set a couch on fire in a rush to provide more time for his escape.
Just outside the home officers discovered an 11-year-old female who had been stabbed to death, and was likely the caller. Three others were found hacked to death inside. A 12-year-old boy, a 44-year-old lady, and a man estimated to be in his 30s were discovered inside the home. A small glimmer of positivity came when the cops found a 61-year-old woman who had survived but was in critical condition.
Both officers were transported to the hospital in critical condition, but both also left later on December 3rd. Gordon was rushed by ambulance as well but succumbed to his wounds once there.
Speaking to the Post, a neighbor described being awoken to the gunfire. “I think it was five shots. Could have been more. After I got off the bed I looked out and saw him on the ground. He was near the telephone pole near the street. I couldn’t really see much of him. I just saw it was a person. And the two cops were both holding on to each other.”
This attack follows another familiar stabbing incident just on December 1st when a Brooklyn political volunteer attacked his mother. Allegedly believing she was trying to kill him, the 30-year-old claimed that he had simply punched her following an argument. Never mind the pool of blood she was found in and the spray patterns on the walls.
A rash of knife and other tool attacks have been perpetuated across the globe in recent years. As the mental health crisis gets worse, people are finding themselves less and less capable of dealing with the situations that life presents to them. Lashing out with attacks like these, we are not seeing the signs and results of a system that is failing people.
For the gun grabbers, these attacks are a perfect example that this is a question of mental health that is behind mass deaths. It’s not the tool (as much as they want it to be) that is at fault here. A level of personal responsibility must be acknowledged and expressed, but they refuse to understand that. Until they do, we won’t have much recourse in stopping these mass casualty incidents. It’s no wonder that the rate of mass attacks increasing corresponds with the decline in mental institutions and putting the criminally insane in mental health institutions.
