Girl's chilling call during murder-suicide at birthday party
A nine-year-old girl reportedly hid in a closet and called 911 as her dad fatally shot her mum and two sisters before taking his own life in a horrifying triple murder-suicide.
Joseph McCrimon, 46, allegedly arrived "agitated" to his young daughter's birthday party in Brooklyn, in New York City, on Monday evening (local time), abc7 reported.
He allegedly opened fire on Rasheeda Barzey, his partner of 20 years, and her two other daughters, Solei Spears, 20, and Chloe Spears, 16, inside their fourth-floor council-owned apartment, according to the network.
McCrimon was found dead nearby from injuries police understood to have been self-inflicted.
Body camera footage from police responding to the nine-year-old's 911 – which she made at about 11.20pm (local time) – has since been described as heartbreaking.
"Body-worn camera of her calling 911 just breaks your heart," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Essig told reporters.
"She is saying, 'Daddy is coming from my birthday. He didn't bring presents' ... It's really heart-wrenching. They have no prior domestic history, there is no 911 calls between them."
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She was also described as a brave and smart girl by Deputy Inspector Rohan Griffin, who spoke to her when police arrived.
“She is a tremendously brave, brave young lady – very smart, very bright. We are going to do all we can to ensure she has a bright future," Mr Griffin said, according to AP.
Victims were deceased at the scene
All victims were dead when emergency crews arrived, abc7 reported.
Mr Essig said police had been informed that McCrimon appeared to not be in his right mind before arriving at the apartment.
"We believe that he had a 20-year relationship with the female killed. He comes to the apartment for the daughter that they have in common, for her birthday party," he said.
"We know he left in an agitated state to meet her."
Two guns were reportedly discovered at the scene.
Killed mum worked in healthcare
McCrimon reportedly had a history of violence and was convicted of manslaughter 28 years ago.
Ms Barzey worked for NYC Health + Hospitals, which released a statement following news of her death.
"We are deeply saddened by the senseless death of a member of the NYC Health + Hospitals family. In addition to reaching out to relatives, we have activated our Helping Healers Heal team to support those who worked beside this staff member and may need grief counselling," the statement read.
The devastating incident is under investigation.
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