Overview
- Police say officers responded just before noon Saturday to a home on Ocean Crest Boulevard after reports of shots fired inside a residence.
- Officers encountered an armed 33-year-old who had barricaded himself, prompting the NYPD Emergency Service Unit to join the response.
- Sources report the suspect set the house on fire, causing an explosion that spread flames and injured more than a dozen people while two shooting victims were reported dead.
- Initial accounts conflict over whether officers shot the suspect and he was taken to a hospital in critical condition or whether one person was taken into custody.
- NYPD and FDNY remain on scene investigating, hospitals received patients, and officials have asked the public to avoid the area while a news conference is expected to clarify details.