Five people were killed in a horrific murder-suicide in a peaceful cul-de-sac in Nassau County on Sunday. The incident occurred just days after the death of the family's matriarch, with relatives planning to sell the house, according to police and sources.
All the victims were fatally shot inside the small blue house on Wyoming Court in Syosset, while the shooter took his own life on the front lawn, Newsday reported. Police said they responded to a call about gunfire in the peaceful cul-de-sac on Wyoming Court in Syosset, where they found a man on the front lawn with a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly before noon on Sunday, the outlet reported.
Gory Scene
Inside the small blue house, officers found four more victims who had been killed. As of Sunday evening, the victims had not been identified, but property records indicate that the home most recently belonged to 95-year-old Theresa Martha DeLucia, who was buried on Friday.
It is now suspected that one of her sons, who had been living in the house with DeLucia, shot his siblings and other relatives before taking his own life in the front yard, reportedly due to a disagreement over the sale of the property, according to News 12 Long Island.
"The mother had just died, and they were selling the house," said Mary Macaluso, a local real estate agent.
She said that she was scheduled to meet the family at the home around noon, but by the time she arrived, the street had already been closed off by authorities.
"The kids were all here for the funeral, and they asked me to come to look at the house,'' Macaluso told the outlet.
Dispute Over Property Leads to Murder-Suicide
She said that one of the children had requested her to meet with the family to discuss what needed to be done before listing the home, which was valued at nearly $900,000 on Zillow.
They were eager to move forward quickly, as two of the family members had traveled from Florida for the funeral and were planning to return soon, she added.
However, according to ABC 7, the suspect, who was believed to be in his 60s, had lived in the house his entire life. Neighbors said that the thought of losing the home was too much for him to bear.
"I didn't think that he'd take his whole family, his siblings," one neighbor told Fox 5 New York.
"I thought maybe he was distraught and he did this to himself only."
Other neighbors noted that they heard gunshots and were left deeply disturbed by the gruesome scene.
"At first I heard it was a murder-suicide, and that's pretty bad," Mike Steffens told ABC 7. "And then I heard four people murdered and then a suicide, so it was something you don't hear very often, let alone in your own town."
