Overview
- Police say 33-year-old Kegan Thomas fatally shot his mother, Clemer Ponce, 56, and his sister, Selena/Selema Ponce, 28, inside their Ocean Crest Boulevard home before setting the house on fire.
- Thomas’s wife called 911 to report he was armed and had a history of mental illness and told officers he had shot family members.
- Officers from the NYPD Emergency Service Unit encountered a large explosion at the home and then say Thomas emerged wearing a tactical vest and carrying a shotgun and failed to drop the weapon before officers shot him.
- Prosecutors have charged Thomas with multiple counts including murder, attempted murder, arson, criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals after a dog and a cat died from smoke inhalation.
- Neighbors were evacuated, several families lost their homes and the Red Cross is assisting displaced residents while investigators continue forensic work on the blast, the fire and the motive.